A new video clearly depicts Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber admitting the law was intentionally vague so the administration could deceive the public on key components and take advantage of the “stupidity of the American voter.”
The conservative group American Commitment discovered Gruber’s comments in YouTube video filmed at an event in October 2013. The comments came less than three weeks into the chaotic open enrollment of the federal healthcare exchange. Nonetheless, Gruber offered an unguarded view of the White House approach to the health care debate in 2009-2010.
“This bill was written in a tortured way to make sure that CBO (the Congressional Budget Office) did not score the mandate as taxes. If CBO scores the mandate as taxes, the bill dies. OK. So it’s written to do that. In terms of risk-rated subsidies, if you had a law that made it explicit that the healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it would not have passed,” said Gruber.
While the tactics may infuriate opponents who repeatedly stated the bill would do those things, Gruber’s attitude toward winning over enough of the public to get the law approved was even more blunt.
“Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. Call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical to getting the thing to pass,” he said.
Gruber was unapologetic in taking that deceptive approach.
“I’d rather have this law than not,” he said. “Yeah, there’s things I wish I could change, but I’d rather have this law than not.”
Galen Institute President Grace-Marie Turner says Gruber not only confirmed many of the conservative Obamacare criticisms but revealed the ugly side of how this administration pursued its signature legislative priority.
“This kind of validation from Jonathan Gruber, the architect of this law, is really shocking; that he would admit that the only way they would possibly be able to get this passed was basically to lie to the American people,” said Turner, who says those fears have been confirmed by the intensifying disapproval numbers for the law as more details become known.
“The more people find out about the law, the more they were realized how they were duped with all of the promises. The thing I think is really telling is that this is the guy who really helped shape and craft this law. For him to say the only way they could get it passed was through trickery is astonishing,” said Turner.
Turner also believes Gruber’s attitude is indicative of the entire administration’s approach to health care and other policies.
“I really think that it’s part of the whole philosophy, the whole philosophy that health care is just too complicated for people to figure out for themselves and all these smart elites need to figure it out for us,” she said.
Gruber’s comments came in response to Wharton School of Business Professor Mark Pauly imploring Washington to be as transparent as possible with the public.
“(Gruber’s) saying, ‘No, no, no. The American people are so stupid we have to do this for them.’ It’s a basic elitist attitude. ‘We know best and the American people are too stupid to know what’s right for them.’ Now we hear it on tape,” said Turner.
Turner is confident the incoming Republican congress can make significant dents in the law in order to restore more “balance” to the system. She believes eliminating the employer mandate will be first on the agenda, followed by efforts to repeal the medical device tax and other taxes.