Anyone who has been in the public eye for any length of time should know that some things are better left unsaid. Blabbermouths can get themselves, and others, into a world of trouble that isn’t going to do them any good.
Professor Jonathan Gruber, the man most people in America know identify as the “architect of Obamacare” is trying to walk back his story, to say that he had nothing to do with it.
A Ph.D he may be, but common sense, not so much.
With his foot in his mouth and his hat in his hand, Professor Gruber fronted up to a House Select Committee and handed out an extremely selective interpretation of his role as “architect” of Obamacare.
His words seem to have been coached, but not well enough to make his apparent contrition convincing. Gruber apologized to Congress for his “insulting” remarks about consumers and the American people.
The big problem with walking back his now-familiar storyline is that it has been used and repeated many times by the White House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and a plethora of Democratic lawmakers. They all said that Professor Gruber guided the efforts of the controversial law. If he was just a bit player in this effort, why did he receive such a massive fee, paid for by the “stupid” American taxpayer?
Gruber has ridiculed Americans publicly, and although he obviously doesn’t “get it” politicians do – the people he called “stupid” are the voters that put the spendthrift politicians in power. That means Gruber’s facade of contrition is meeting resitance on both sides of the political divide.
Democrats and Republicans called Gruber out. On the left side of politics, the ever-partisan Maryland Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings, blasted Gruber. He said, “As far as I can tell, we are here today to beat up on Jonathan Gruber for stupidity. I mean absolutely stupid comments he made over the last few years. Let me be clear, I am extremely frustrated with Dr. Gruber’s statements. They were irresponsible, incredibly disrespectful and did not reflect reality. And they were indeed insulting.”
Even though he has been called out by every politician with a pulse, Gruber continues to refute the claim that he actually wrote the healthcare law in 2010, while he was an MIT health economics professor. His new story line is that he was not the “architect” of the law, but there is irrefutable evidence to the contrary.
Here, in Gruber’s own words in the proof he said, and reinforced that statement about the health law. “I’m going to describe it objectively but I helped write it. So I’ll be objective. I’ll try to be objective, but just full disclaimer; I was involved in writing the legislation so there is some bias involved here.”
Speaking to a House Oversight Committee on Tuesday, Mediaite reported that Gruber said something completely different. He told the committee, “I did not draft Governor Romney’s healthcare plan, and I was not the ‘architect’ of President Obama’s healthcare plan. I ran microsimulation models to help those in the state and federal executive and legislative branches better assess the likely outcomes of various possible policy choices.”
It appears that Gruber has become the ‘Typhoid Mary’ of the Democratic Party. Lawmakers who were involved in the Obamacare process and the White House are now struggling to verbally minimize his efforts.
Those efforts are not working.
Gruber’s revised words to the congressional committee on Capitol Hill stand in stark contrast to those he previously uttered publicly. His arrogant description of how easily the law came to fruition over the “stupidity of the American voter,” was not heard at all. It has been reported that since the litany of taped remarks came out into the open, not only has he faced a firestorm of anger, but several states have canceled consulting contracts with him.
As expected, the White House is acting as though it has never heard of Professor Gruber, and there have been no comments from the White House. Professor Jonathan Gruber is now persona non grata, an academic way of saying nobody wants to hear from him, ever again.
Gruber’s narcissism and his inflated ego will cost him millions in the long run.
Gruber on video, explaining why Obamacare was written in such a tortured way to deceive everyone:
