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By CALVIN WOODWARD Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - At least in politics, "tax" is a four-letter word.

So when the Supreme Court ruled that the penalty for not obtaining health insurance is constitutional because it works like a tax, politicians began squirming over what to call that Thing in President Barack Obama's health care law.

The problem for Obama is that, if the Thing is indeed a tax, he is by definition a raiser of taxes on the middle class, which he promised not to be.

If that sounds like an opportunity for Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney, well, it's not that simple.

Obama's health care law is closely modeled on the universal-coverage plan Romney achieved as Massachusetts governor, which contains a penalty for noncompliance similar to the one in the federal law upheld by the court last week.

So if Obama is a raiser of taxes, so is Romney.

Contortions have ensued.

Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom strayed from Republican talking points when he told MSNBC that Romney agrees with Justice Antonin Scalia's minority opinion that "very clearly stated that the mandate was not a tax."

That position is at odds with congressional Republicans who are determined to portray the penalty as an Obama tax pure and simple.

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SPIN METER: When 'tax' is a 4-letter word