Wednesday, November 12, 2014

ObamaCare architect: I regret 'stupidity' of voter comment


ObamaCare architect: I regret 'stupidity' of voter comment
By Elise Viebeck - 11/11/14 01:48 PM EST
An architect of ObamaCare on Tuesday said he regretted his 2013 comment that a "lack of transparency" and the "stupidity of the American voter" helped Congress pass the healthcare law.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Jonathan Gruber made his first public comments on MSNBC after conservative media unearthed a video clip over the weekend of him discussing the healthcare law.

"The comments in the video were made at an academic conference," Gruber said on "Ronan Farrow Daily." "I was speaking off the cuff. I basically spoke inappropriately. I regret having made those comments."

Gruber was speaking on a panel last year when he suggested that ObamaCare passed because lawmakers and voters did not understand how its financing worked.

"Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage,” Gruber said at the time. "And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical for the thing to pass."

Gruber also said that ObamaCare was written in a "tortured way" to avoid a bad score from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). And he suggested that voters would have rejected the law if penalties for being uninsured were interpreted as a tax.

"If CBO scored the [individual] mandate as taxes, the bill dies," Gruber said.

"If you had a law that made it explicit that healthy people are going to pay in and sick people are going to get subsidies, it would not have passed," he added.

The clip is generating significant attention on the right.

On Tuesday, Gruber said he only meant that much of ObamaCare's financing was done through the tax code, calling that more "politically palatable" than other means.

"That was the only point I was making," he said.

A consultant on both the federal and Massachusetts healthcare reform laws, Gruber also predicted that 2015 exchange enrollments will exceed the administration's target of 9.1 million.

"The administration is being conservative," he said. "I believe the number is likely to be higher than that."

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
John M. Deutch is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a life trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank).

Note: Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Urban Institute (think tank), the Committee for Economic Development, the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.  
Urban Institute (think tank) is a contractor for Obamacare.
Obamacare is Barack Obama’s signature policy initiative.
Barack Obama’s signature policy initiative is Obamacare, Madelyn Payne Dunham was his maternal grandmother, and was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Madelyn Payne Dunham was Barack Obama’s maternal grandmother, and an aircraft inspector for the Boeing Company.
Barbara G. Fast was a VP at the Boeing Company, and a VP for the CGI Group Inc.
CGI Group Inc. was the Obamacare contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web site.
Obamacare is Barack Obama’s signature policy initiative.
Donna S. Morea was the EVP for the CGI Group Inc., and a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.
Alan G. Spoon was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and is a member of the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Thomas P. Gerrity is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and was a member of the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Shirley Ann Jackson was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and is a life member of the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Carol A. Melton was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and is a director at the Economic Club of Washington.
Robert G. Liberatore was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and is a director at the Economic Club of Washington.
W. James McNerney Jr. is the chairman & president & CEO for the Boeing Company, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Valerie B. Jarrett is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and her great uncle is Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for the Boeing Company.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a life trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank), an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), was the president of the Economic Club of Washington, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Urban Institute (think tank) is a contractor for Obamacare.
David M. Rubenstein is the president of the Economic Club of Washington, a co-chairman for the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a friend of Thomas E. Donilon.
Thomas E. Donilon is a friend of David M. Rubenstein, was the White House deputy national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Breene M. Kerr was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a life member emeritus for the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Laura D'Andrea Tyson was a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a member of the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Louis W. Cabot is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and was a life member emeritus for the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Shirley Ann Jackson is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a life member of the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the governing body for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jessica Tuchman Mathews was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), is the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population control by involving the United States in war)
L. Rafael Reif is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
John M. Deutch is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a life trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank).
Urban Institute (think tank) is a contractor for Obamacare.
Obamacare is Barack Obama’s signature policy initiative.
Lois Dickson Fitt is a life trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank), Susan E. Rice’s mother, and was a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Susan E. Rice is Lois Dickson Fitt’s daughter, the White House national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration, a stockholder in the TransCanada Corporation, and was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Senate Democrats Said to Consider Keystone Vote Soon
By Kathleen Hunter and Jim Snyder Nov 12, 2014 8:45 AM PT
Senate Democrats are looking at taking a vote in the lame-duck session starting today to force approval of TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s Keystone XL pipeline, in an effort to bolster Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu’s re-election chances, a party aide said.
TransCanada Corporation is a proposed builder for the Keystone XL pipeline.
Keystone XL pipeline requires approval from the U.S. Department of State.
John F. Kerry is the secretary at the U.S. Department of State for the Barack Obama administration, and married to Teresa Heinz Kerry.
Teresa Heinz Kerry is married to John F. Kerry, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a trustee at the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, and a life trustee at the Carnegie Mellon University.
Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, the endowed predecessor schools for the Carnegie Mellon University, and the founder of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
L. Rafael Reif is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
John M. Deutch is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a life trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank).
Urban Institute (think tank) is a contractor for Obamacare.












































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