This week we discussed another videotape of Jonathan Gruber, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist who played a major role the ACA, or “Obamacare,” making revealing and highly embarrassing statements about the strategy behind the passage of the Act. Gruber had already previously attracted controversy with statements where he endorsed the theory at the heart of the recent decisions in Halbig and King by challengers to the ACA: to wit, that the federal funding provision was a quid pro quo device to reward states with their own exchanges and to punish those that force the creation of federal exchanges. That issue will now be decided by the United States Supreme Court. Gruber caused uproar when, after he had denounced the theory as “nutty” during the arguments in Halbig and King, he was shown later to have embraced that same interpretation. Gruber has become a major liability in the litigation. Gruber then was back in the news with an equally startling admission that the Obama Administration (and Gruber) succeeded in passing the ACA only by engineering a “lack of transparency” on the details and relying on “the stupidity of the American voter.” Now a new videotape has surfaced from Gruber speaking at the University of Rhode Island in 2012 and expressing the same contempt for the intelligence of citizens — suggesting again that they were hoodwinked to “the lack of economic understanding of the American voter.” Gruber was paid roughly $400,000 to help design the ACA by the Obama Administration, but he is proving far far more costly in its aftermath.
The latest comments came with discussion of the so-called “Cadillac tax” which mandated that insurance companies would be taxed under the Act. It was the idea of then Senator John Kerry, who Gruber describes as his “hero” in using the naiveté of voters against them. He explains that taxing individuals would have been “politically impossible” so Kerry and the Administration opted to tax the companies with full knowledge that the cost could be passed on to citizens:
“So basically it’s the same thing. We just tax the insurance companies, they pass on higher prices that offsets the tax break we get, it ends up being the same thing. It’s a very clever, you know, basic exploitation of the lack of economic understanding of the American voter.”
In another view taken from at an October 2013 event at Washington University in St. Louis, Gruber also refers to the “Cadillac tax,” and says “They proposed it and that passed, because the American people are too stupid to understand the difference.”
In fairness to Gruber, (putting aside his obvious low opinion of the American people) his frank discussions are consistent with speaking as an academic. However, such machinations are rarely confirmed by high-level consultants or officials. The ACA was pushed through by a muscle vote on a handful of votes while the Administration made claims that he later had to admit were misleading at best, such as the President’s repeated assurance that citizens could keep your current insurance policy if you liked it. There was a great deal of cynicism and misleading representations made during the ACA debates — reflecting a deep-seated contempt for the intelligence of the American voter. Gruber however seems to celebrate the success in using what he viewed as the stupidity of citizens, to quote his earlier comments, to secure passage of the ACA. It is the triumph of the ends over the means — the mantra of Beltway denizens who view more principled actors as naive chumps. What is shocking for many outside of the Beltway is of course the moral relativism and cynicism reflected in such comments, but Gruber is the norm in Washington. He is the face of the consequentiality morality that has long governed this city.
What is different is that he admits it.
The video below shows an honest and frankly insightful account of how the tax issues are addressed as well as the merits of such tax systems. It is the type of lecture that occurs on many campuses but the lecturer is rarely the architect of the underlying legislation. It is the combination with the earlier videotapes that has fueled the ongoing controversy, even though this is less confrontational. Actually, the far more significant statements were found in the first videotape where Gruber expressly endorses the theory of challengers in King and Halbig. Those statements are likely to be cited in the ongoing litigation and Gruber later effort to dismiss them as unintentional or off-the-cuff seemed less than honest.
The fact is that academics are often caught in a dilemma in moving between the political and academic worlds — worlds based on different values. Where the political world values opaqueness and evasion; the academic world values transparency and clarity. Gruber is a brilliant and highly distinguished academic and his lectures satisfy his obligation to be honest and accurate. That is precisely why his former associates in the Obama Administration may now find him less than ideal as a political ally.
What strikes me is that while MSNBC’s Farrow called the crude comments “nuanced” and Grubber shrugged them off as something inappropriate he said in front of academia, there are several videos where he essentially calls the American voters stupid, a fact he exploited to get the law passed. He also states, several times, that if they had been honest, this law would never have passed. (I have made this same statement many times, that the law could never have passed if they were honest about it.)
So for anyone who has supported this law – its architects think you are stupid and easy to manipulate, and they lied to the American people to get it to pass.
I do not think there is any better reason to get it repealed, than passed on deliberate lies.
Nick – did not know that about Weinstein. It’s wonderful what a citizen journalist can accomplish nowadays. That also illustrates that while MSNBC was busy doing damage control for Dems, they clearly did not bother to do any research. If Weinstein found this footage, so could they.
The entire 6 years of the Obama administration succinctly summarized in the last two sentences: If there are two things the Obama administration doesn’t want any part of, they are honesty and accuracy.
Well done.
Nick, influence from business and the private sector in government is the very essence of corruption.
Nick, I doubt that they are willing to die. I do believe though that they will kill for Obama.
I don’t think JT will be getting any Christmas cards from the Obama Administration this year. I doubt he has gotten any the last several years.
Paul, They are much more than “supporters” they are cultists and they will die defending their cult leader..literally.
More information on how this administration and they still have their supporters. Amazing.
I wasn’t aware of the ” health care tax” con job that Gruber describes in the attached video. This shows a Medicare type health care insurance- single payor- is the only viable solution. Once for profit companies gain control- just like allowing banks like jp morgan package toxic mortgages as investment vehicles without government oversight– the public gets screwed.
Good insight Nick.
Great to see citizens making a difference.
Haz, This Administration has the lowest % of people from business and the private sector of any administration in the last century.
There is another aspect of these Gruber videos that is maybe more revealing than the video themselves. They were all found and released by Rich Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein is citizen journalist. His job is an investment adviser in Philly. Obamacare was the gift Dems and the MSM gave to their cult leader. It took a regular guy named Rich Weinstein to show all the Emperor indeed wears no clothes. Oh, and Diane Feinstein wants the First Amendment rights of free press extended to only members of the MSM. The left HATE the First Amendment!!
intentional fraud, pure and simple.
Reblogged this on This Got My Attention and commented:
Loose lips sink ships and Jonathan Gruber certainly has a pair of loose ones. And, he doesn’t mind lying about it, too. Intelligence doesn’t make up for unethical conduct at which Gruber seems to be an expert. He’s also unafraid to charge for his expertise. Obama paid him $400,000 for his advice according to a report in the WSJ http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704586504574654362679868966
Reblogged this on Citizens, not serfs.
While I never overestimate the reasoning powers of voters, it is impossible to make informed decisions about policies/laws unless accurate information is available, whether it pertains to the ACA or the NSA.
Jonathon Gruber, by the way, has never held a job outside of academia. He has never had to start a business, hire employees, make payroll, or buy group insurance coverage. He has been covered by health insurance policies that have required that he do little more than read his annual renewal packet, never worrying about any cost other than the minor portion of the premium that is taken from his paycheck.
And you can be darn sure that he will never be exposed to his creation, ObamaCare, the way we stupid people are.
Need to pass it to learn what is in it. – Nancy Pelosi.
Have you ever tried to influence your legislators?
The response always starts with “Thank you for…” and then ignores your position with platitudes about how hard the legislator works for you.
Don’t know how to fix the problem, but I do know that I am not well represented in Washington.
The lefties (including politicians and MSM) hate the Tea Party, but supporters of the TP are trying to fix this very problem.
The TP may not want the same solutions as the lefties, but the goal of eliminating corruption and manipulation benefits all Americans.
Every bill passed by Congress should include a section that lists the names, titles, and affiliations of every person who contributed to writing the bill. Americans deserve to know which lobbyists, academics, consultants, and interest groups are actually writing the law, and what interests they have in the bill being signed into law.
It isn’t any more complicated than listing the ingredients on a box of cereal, except buying cereal is a voluntary act, while complying with law is mandatory.
Revolution.
We need a reset. Things cannot continue like this. Too much corruption in the system and parties. Better to remove people from the three branches and convene a Constitutional convention to appoint replacements.
I am completely serious. We are treading into treacherous waters as is. At least give us a chance to remove the treasonous and corrupt.