A chilling realization set in for Americans on Sunday evening.

We either have a president who does not understand the meaning of a tax increase or one who is so arrogant he believes he can use his rhetorical skills to talk Americans into believing his lies.

If it feels like a tax, looks like a tax and sounds like a tax, then it is a tax.

The tax I’m referring to is the health care excise tax, which will impose a $750 to $3,800 sanction on anyone who is uninsured.

Progressives feel this tax is essential for creating personal responsibility, but you cannot make people be personally responsible. What you can do and what this administration is trying to do is force Americans into government-run health care.

When President Barack Obama was confronted by ABC New’s George Stephanopoulos in regard to the excise tax, he continually tip-toed around an explanation. When Stephanopoulos read the definition of tax from Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, Obama provided an arrogant response that questioned Stephanopoulos’ reasoning for reading the dictionary.

There wasn’t a definitive answer from Obama until Stephanopoulos straight-out asked him if he rejected that it was a tax increase.

Obama said, “I absolutely reject that notion.” Congressman Joe Wilson was correct: President Obama is a liar. On Page 29 of the America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009, the words excise tax are printed in bold black letters. It is clearly a tax increase, and it is not the first tax increase we have seen from this president.

In September 2008, when Obama was campaigning, he promised change we could believe in and ensured that there would be no new tax increases for anyone making less than $250,000.

Nine months later, Obama broke this “firm pledge” when he signed into law a steep hike in the federal excise tax on tobacco.

When White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs – who was one of Obama’s wonderful and qualified appointees who can barely string together a confident and coherent sentence – was confronted about this at a news conference days later. Gibbs attempted to justify the tax by claiming that tobacco use is a personal choice and therefore is acceptable to “fine.” Controlling the language of the debate is a technique that has been mastered by the politicians in this country. As seen in the Obama interview, if you can’t define “tax,” then you can’t say you are raising taxes.

In Colorado, they use this wordplay to get around the Tax Payer’s Bill of Rights. The bill’s regulations state that taxes cannot be raised without a statewide vote. What liberal legislatures have done to surpass this is refer to potential taxes as fees – not a very constitutional or honest move on their part.

Common sense tells us that if this bill passes, it will take away more of our freedom of choice, forcing us to pay an unjust tax or sign up for government health care. These rhetorical masterpieces are contributing to the upsurge of anti-Obama sentiment. If these dissenters don’t set the record straight, then many of us will be giving some extra money to our fiscally responsible government or stuck with government-issued health care.