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.
Gruber revealed the fact that he and Democrats KNOW their voters are “stupid.”
“Corporations don’t pay tax, their customers do.” Jonathan Gruber says, “stupid American voters don’t know that.” He’s right. “Stupid” people think corporations pay tax. Of course corporations don’t pay tax. Thank you, Jonathan Gruber. Let’s raise the corporate tax for the “stupid” people.
Democrats/Liberals are lazy. Parasites are “stupid.”
Democrats/Liberals THRIVE on “stupid” constituents.
Democrats/Liberals make a living off of “stupid” people.
P.T. Barnum, “there’s a sucker born every minute.”
Stupid is making a career of taking other people’s money and buying the votes of “stupid” American voters. Stupid is living a lifetime on “free stuff” given by Democrats/Liberals.
Stupid is also not living an honest and gratifying life. “Life is in the journey, not the destination.”
“Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.”
American fought the war on poverty and poverty won. America is still fighting the war on poverty. America taught them how to fish long ago. Let them fish for themselves.
Have you ever been to Compton?
Gruber is right…about democrat voters.
Was America intended to be a restricted-vote republic? Those guys were smart.
They have nothing to say because they were caught in a lie. If they can’t lie they have nothing.
You can not believe anything they say.
President’s Obama’s weekly address, June 6, 2009: “If you like the plan you have, you can keep it. If you like the doctor you have, you can keep your doctor, too.”
Chip S, Really how about the pictures Elaine busted you guys on.
swarthmom, the only propaganda in this thread is the bilge that’s being dredged up from various lefty sites and dumped here by Obama’s (paid?) minions on the internet.
It’s revealing that you find “stopping the conversation” a preferred tactic to trying to formulate a cogent counterargument.
Annie, Very few facts…. lee tried to provide some and I did from the Kaiser group but they are not interested. My husband is an healthcare atty so I get good information. They just spin, spin ,spin. You know Breitbart has been caught in quite a few lies……….
SWM – are you and your healthcare attorney husband on Obamacare? We have a guy on video, twice telling us how stupid the Democrats are for passing Obamacare. Nancy Pelosi lies about not knowing the guy. The MSM refuses to play the tapes of this guy. The coverup continues.
Exactly LeeJ and SWM, so much mouthfoaming in this thread that it’s impossible to have a serious discussion.
Annie, SWM, leejcaroll – hard to take a side when there is no side to take.
Lots of right wing propaganda,lee, that is mixed with a limited knowledge of healthcare, insurance, benefits, doctor choices, etc. You made a wise decision in stopping the conversation. We don’t need to take their bait.
“admitted that Democrat voters are stupid.
He used that word, too. ‘Stupid.’’ pogo They proposed it and that passed, because the American people are too stupid to understand the difference.” Gruber Caught in a lie……..
What’s shocking to me is that the Democrats don’t seem to mind that the architect of Obamacare admitted that Democrat voters are stupid.
He used that word, too. ‘Stupid.’
And here they come, defending Obamacare.
Not outraged, but proud.
Proving his point.
She also thinks that people believe that is her real face.
Nancy Pelosi has never heard of Gruber and says the Dems did just fine on election night. The Dems need a new Baghdad Bob.
It appears that Nancy has been caught in another lie. She was recorded on a couple of occasions using his name and giving him credit for Obamacare. I doubt if she will get on Fact Check for it. There are so many lies coming out of either the WH or the DNC or the Democrats it is hard to keep up.
On the whole most likely would rather be found in Philadelphia. Just sayn’
Trooper, The WC is fairly quiet today.
Yeah. You even need photo ID to be able to drive it. Racists.
trooperyork – and I have to take a test to prove I am capable of driving it plus know the rules of the road. Racists, ageists.
Great discussion. Darren, the preexisting problem w/ healthcare you discussed is why dental insurance is so expensive.
Paul – your insurance company is clearly racist and hates the poor.
Karen – I will have to report it to Al Sharpton.
Ceterum censeo Obamacare delendo est.
And furthermore in my opinion Obamacare should be destroyed.
And I hate how the government decided what my choices should be.
I can’t choose what type of coverage meets my needs and budget. The government decided what I should want or need, and makes BOTH better coverage and catastrophic only coverage impossible.
Here’s another factor – when people share some costs, they tend to self moderate how often they use services.
For example, if you never had to pay anything, ever, for any type of healthcare, you would go to the doctor for every sneeze, splinter, bruise, cold, or hangnail. Doctors offices and ERs get hopelessly clogged with people who don’t really need to be there, including those with viral infections that antibiotics won’t help. When you have to pay at least a little bit, you make financial decisions about what you really need.
It is not insurance if you want a company to cover what has already happened to you. You do not call up an auto insurance company, and ask for a policy that will cover your car that you totaled 5 days ago.
What we want is lower health care costs, not really “insurance” in any accurate sense of the word.
Karen – when I bought a new car, I had to take it to my insurance company to make sure there were no “pre-existing’ conditions that I could make a claim on. How unbusiness-like of them.