Today, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius directly contradicted the position of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) case that bears her own name.  Responding to a question from Rep. Tom Reed (NY-29), the Secretary claimed that the individual mandate is “not per se a tax.”  That may come as a huge surprise to the U.S. Department of Justice, which will make the argument next month before the U.S. Supreme Court that the individual mandate is a tax and a valid exercise of Congress’s taxing power.  This is the linchpin of what makes the mandate contained in the Democrats’ health care law constitutional according to DOJ.