Romney settles it: Health care mandate is a tax

WOLFEBORO, N.H. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has settled the debate over what to call President Barack Obama's health care mandate.

In an interview Wednesday with CBS News, Romney says it's a tax.

That contradicts a statement days ago by a top adviser, who said Romney viewed the mandate as a penalty or a fee or a fine — but not as a tax.

Opponents of the health care law, including congressional Republicans, have seized on the Supreme Court's use of the word "tax" to describe the mandate.

Romney said that while he thinks the mandate is unconstitutional, a majority of the court concluded it's a tax.

Said Romney: "They have spoken. There's no way around that."

Romney was interviewed in Wolfeboro, N.H., where he marched in the Fourth of July parade.