Politico: GOP's 'Dream Witness' Gruber Could Doom Obamacare
Monday, 08 Dec 2014 12:45 PM
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Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber faces a GOP grilling when he testifies on Tuesday before the House Oversight Committee conducting an investigation into the controversial Affordable Care Act.
Gruber, who called Americans “stupid” while discussing the healthcare law, will endure a ton of tough questions over his videotaped statements from Republican Rep. Darrell Issa’s committee, particularly stunning comments he made that could lead to the dismantling of Obamacare, according to Politico.
“For some Republicans, Gruber is a dream witness,” wrote Politico’s David Nather. “All they have to do is play the videos that confirm their worst suspicions about President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, especially the one where Gruber boasts that ‘lack of transparency is a huge political advantage’— and watch him squirm.
“Better yet, they can ask him about the video that presents the biggest danger of all to the White House: the one where he undermines the Obama administration’s case in the upcoming Supreme Court lawsuit that could bring a screeching halt to subsidies for millions of Obamacare customers.”
Nather is referring to comments that Gruber made about the central issue in an Obamacare lawsuit in front of the Supreme Court — whether the law allows subsidies for people receiving health insurance through the federal marketplace that covers 37 states, not just for customers who get it from state-based exchanges.
“If the justices decide that it doesn’t — thanks to the way one section of the law is worded — it can gut most of the law,” wrote Nather.
Last month the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, which claims that, according to the language of the law, the insurance subsidies under Obamacare should only be available in states who created their own healthcare exchanges and are not part of the HealthCare.gov federal exchange.
In a video recorded in January 2012, Gruber seemed to confirm the same argument that the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court lawsuit are making: “If you’re a state and you don’t set up an exchange, that means your citizens don’t get their tax credits,” according to Nather.
Obama administration staffers who worked on the healthcare legislation say that the language of the legislation was meant to mean that the law gives everyone the right to apply for and receive subsidies, including the millions enrolled on the federal exchanges, Politico reported.
But Gruber’s embarrassing video is included in the petition to the Supreme Court, and it is expected to come up in the oral arguments.
Michael Carvin, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, told Politico that “Gruber is Exhibit A that any English-speaking person knows what the subsidies language says.”
Gruber, an MIT economist, has since backed off from his remarks, saying that at the time of his speech it wasn’t clear that the federal exchange would even be ready in time for the start of enrollment, according to the political news website.
The furor started last month when a video surfaced showing Gruber, who made millions consulting on Obamacare, apparently criticizing the healthcare act while talking to fellow academics in 2013.
He said: “The bill was written in a tortured way to make sure the CBO [Congressional Budget Office] did not score the [health insurance mandate] as taxes. If CBO scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies."
He also said: "Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. Call it the stupidity of the American voter, or whatever."
The video caused a firestorm that resulted in White House officials scrambling to downplay Gruber's pivotal role in the law's creation.
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© 2014 Newsmax. All rights reserved.Gruber, who called Americans “stupid” while discussing the healthcare law, will endure a ton of tough questions over his videotaped statements from Republican Rep. Darrell Issa’s committee, particularly stunning comments he made that could lead to the dismantling of Obamacare, according to Politico.
“For some Republicans, Gruber is a dream witness,” wrote Politico’s David Nather. “All they have to do is play the videos that confirm their worst suspicions about President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, especially the one where Gruber boasts that ‘lack of transparency is a huge political advantage’— and watch him squirm.
Nather is referring to comments that Gruber made about the central issue in an Obamacare lawsuit in front of the Supreme Court — whether the law allows subsidies for people receiving health insurance through the federal marketplace that covers 37 states, not just for customers who get it from state-based exchanges.
“If the justices decide that it doesn’t — thanks to the way one section of the law is worded — it can gut most of the law,” wrote Nather.
Last month the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, which claims that, according to the language of the law, the insurance subsidies under Obamacare should only be available in states who created their own healthcare exchanges and are not part of the HealthCare.gov federal exchange.
Obama administration staffers who worked on the healthcare legislation say that the language of the legislation was meant to mean that the law gives everyone the right to apply for and receive subsidies, including the millions enrolled on the federal exchanges, Politico reported.
But Gruber’s embarrassing video is included in the petition to the Supreme Court, and it is expected to come up in the oral arguments.
Michael Carvin, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, told Politico that “Gruber is Exhibit A that any English-speaking person knows what the subsidies language says.”
Gruber, an MIT economist, has since backed off from his remarks, saying that at the time of his speech it wasn’t clear that the federal exchange would even be ready in time for the start of enrollment, according to the political news website.
The furor started last month when a video surfaced showing Gruber, who made millions consulting on Obamacare, apparently criticizing the healthcare act while talking to fellow academics in 2013.
He said: “The bill was written in a tortured way to make sure the CBO [Congressional Budget Office] did not score the [health insurance mandate] as taxes. If CBO scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies."
The video caused a firestorm that resulted in White House officials scrambling to downplay Gruber's pivotal role in the law's creation.
Related Stories:
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