Gruber gets grilled tomorrow

boomerang

Lifer
Jun 19, 2000
18,883
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Could be another day that goes down in infamy. My guess is that many of you don't know who he is. I've done some legwork for those of you for whom the name Jonathan Gruber is a mystery. Don't let the label that Gruber has put on you stick. Don't be one of those stupid Americans.

http://www.ibtimes.com/obamacare-consultant-jonathan-gruber-testify-congress-alone-1740193

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_op...athan_gruber_faces_grilling_from_both_parties

http://reason.com/blog/2014/12/08/what-jonathan-grubers-health-care-contra

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/12/will-jonathan-gruber-topple-obamacare-113369.html
 
Dec 10, 2005
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LOL. The House Oversight Committee. What a farce that will be. Another chance for a loud mouthed schnook congressman to get up in front of the cameras and bloviate.
 

compuwiz1

Admin Emeritus Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
27,112
930
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So is this another one of Issa's adventures that goes nowhere? There is no teeth in these kinds of things anymore.
 

Bitek

Lifer
Aug 2, 2001
10,676
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Most likely to end up as another Bengaaahzi, meaning another piece of froth the GOP works themselves up over for years, but actually goes nowhere.

From your own links:

  • His role centered around economic modelling of proposed HC policy solutions.
  • He served as a technical adviser running numbers staffers came up with before they were officially scored by CBO. He developed a quick and accurate analysis tool for HC costing simulations in order to speed up policy development
  • He did not serve any political or legislative function. He was not in a decision making position.
  • He has no authority to comment on legislative intent, as he was not in that role, and wasn't even in the room. He was the nerd in the back running the numbers for the decision makers.
  • The CBO's numbers are the official #'s for the legislation, not his estimates
  • He's a fking idiot asshole whose loudmouth has cost him literally hundreds of thousands of $$, and maybe destroyed his career
  • Will go down in history as a learning lesson to when to shut your fing mouth when you don't know what you are talking about. He's played with fire a lot in his career, but always got away with saying stupid things. Until now.
  • The GOP will conflate his role as much as possible. Look forward to many, many hearings and reports finding not what they want to hear, other than needing another investigation.

The GOP should be careful what it wishes for. If it blows up the HC market with the subsidy repeal (somehow) then millions will feel the knife in their back and will be out for blood. The GOP is figuring the voters are too stupid to figure out who just fked them. Careful with those bets, it can cost you plenty.
 

compuwiz1

Admin Emeritus Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
27,112
930
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Laughing at blowing up the HC market. You mean like the democrats did, when they couldn't even be bothered to read the bill before they passed it? ;)

If Obama care get's repealed, those affected won't represent enough of the voting block to matter. That said, it's a bad deal for most of the country and the GOP had better have a solution, before they pull the plug on Obama care. I have a feeling the SCOTUS is going to do it before the GOP does.
 
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ivwshane

Lifer
May 15, 2000
33,736
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The bell will be rung and Pavlov's (aka GOP political leaders) dogs (aka the idiot base of the GOP) will come running in declaring, "see! See! They lied in order to pass the bill!". Of course they will conveniently ignore that the opposition was also lying to get the bill to fail!

The righty rage of hypocrisy and mental contortionism! Mmm...mmm...good!
 

boomerang

Lifer
Jun 19, 2000
18,883
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That said, it's a bad deal for most of the country and the GOP had better have a solution, before they pull the plug on Obama care. I have a feeling the SCOTUS is going to do it before the GOP does.
I think the purpose of the hearings is two fold. First is to make more public the levels of deception that were critical for the passage of the legislation. Much of what Gruber has brought to light was proclaimed early on by the right but was shouted down by the left who felt they had the upper hand. Secondly, making this information more public will help John Roberts with his second opportunity. The very fact that they are hearing the case tells us what the decision will be.

Sixth Gruber Video Reveals Lies Told to Sell Obamacare's 'Mislabeled' Tax Breaks
A sixth video of Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber surfaced, where he explains how Democrats lied to sell Obamacare to the "stupid voters," this time noting how taxes were purposefully "mislabeled" to get the bill passed.

The newest video shows Gruber talking about the lies shoring up Obamacare and features his explanation of how taxes for employer-based healthcare insurance policies were purposefully mislabeled. He also noted that the writers of the bill took pains to hide from voters whom these taxes would hit.

Gruber was addressing the "Cadillac tax," sold as a tax only on "the rich" because it was a tax on expensive insurance plans that only eight percent of Americans currently have. The tax on these expensive plans was to be at 40 percent -- this with the expectation that such high-dollar plans might eventually be canceled.

Gruber said that the trick to selling the "Cadillac tax" was to claim it was a tax on insurance policies and not "people."

"[T]he only way we could get rid of it was first by mislabeling it, calling it a tax on insurance plans rather than a tax on people when we all know it's a tax on people who hold those insurance plans," Gruber says on the video.
The foundation Obamacare was built on is crumbling right now. The left is of course in complete denial. It will not be repealed but these hearings in combination with the expected SCOTUS ruling will result in sweeping changes to the law. It may even be scrapped if it's determined that it can't be reworked due to too many near fatal flaws in the legislation but there will be a replacement. It won't be in the next two years though. It will have to wait until Obama is out of office. It goes without saying that his ego won't allow his namesake legislation, regardless of how flawed it may be, to be scuttled on his watch. It remains to be seen though what Congress does along the lines of defunding. I don't expect their balls have toughened up too much.

I think it's also important to note that the "stupid voters" Gruber repeatedly refers to in video after video are the Democrat members of Congress. They chose to deceive themselves and many have paid a price for that deception.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
88,246
55,794
136
It's interesting to watch someone like boomerang declare other people to be in denial.
 

Bitek

Lifer
Aug 2, 2001
10,676
5,239
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I think the purpose of the hearings is two fold. First is to make more public the levels of deception that were critical for the passage of the legislation. Much of what Gruber has brought to light was proclaimed early on by the right but was shouted down by the left who felt they had the upper hand. Secondly, making this information more public will help John Roberts with his second opportunity. The very fact that they are hearing the case tells us what the decision will be.

Sixth Gruber Video Reveals Lies Told to Sell Obamacare's 'Mislabeled' Tax Breaks
The foundation Obamacare was built on is crumbling right now. The left is of course in complete denial. It will not be repealed but these hearings in combination with the expected SCOTUS ruling will result in sweeping changes to the law. It may even be scrapped if it's determined that it can't be reworked due to too many near fatal flaws in the legislation but there will be a replacement. It won't be in the next two years though. It will have to wait until Obama is out of office. It goes without saying that his ego won't allow his namesake legislation, regardless of how flawed it may be, to be scuttled on his watch. It remains to be seen though what Congress does along the lines of defunding. I don't expect their balls have toughened up too much.

I think it's also important to note that the "stupid voters" Gruber repeatedly refers to in video after video are the Democrat members of Congress. They chose to deceive themselves and many have paid a price for that deception.

Really? That's how you see this playing out? Even if the Supreme Court decided to negate the one part of the bill that deals with subsidy payments to the States that did not set up their own exchanges as per the letter, that doesn't undo the entire bill. At most they would be kicking it back to Congress for clarification on the intent. This should be a simple typo clarification. Oh look, we have a dysfunctional Congress led by the GOP!

What will they do? we are in open enrollment season right now. Best they can hope for is the decision comes out next summer, so they have several months before the next open enrollment to work out the fixes. Doesn't much help the people already on plans, but something has to be done before the next enrollment. On the other hand, will be right into primary season. That's when we'll get the wackiest ideas and calls to be unreasonable.

so what gets done? maybe some bill that's a compromise of the fix and some thing the GOP wants. Or maybe they blow everything up, pass nothing and send everything into chaos. it's not just the people receiving subsidy will be affected, but it's the other buyers of insurance as well as insurance companies who have set up carefully balanced plans based on assumptions of what the law is today. You will get their big money coming in after you. We basically have 1 year to govern before presidential elections, and the GOP can easily burn all their time sowing chaos.

Thats what they are going to run on going into 2016 and a very blue map?

All based on the words of some economist...

It's interesting to watch someone like boomerang declare other people to be in denial.

Hey! He's out there making sure he's not being one of those stupid persons ;)
 
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Bitek

Lifer
Aug 2, 2001
10,676
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Oh No, they called it at Cadillac tax and nobody can figure out that somebody has to pay the tax? What's next? his great revelation will be they call it Cadillac because they know regular folks don't drive Cadillacs? Brilliant observations here... What would we ever do without his genius poly sci insights?
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,686
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Issa: Do you really believe the American people are stupid?

Gruber: Obviously. They re-elected you.

Repubs are desperate for another circular logic conspiracy theory mindfuck "scandal" to entertain their gullible minions. Boomerang leads the rush into the amphitheatre.
 

Newell Steamer

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2014
6,894
8
0
Oh boy, the conservatives have got Obummer on the ropes now!!

They are going after a consultant, that was hired nearly a 1/2 decade ago on something that is currently proven to be something people want and provides a benefit.

Go get'em kid!
 

thraashman

Lifer
Apr 10, 2000
11,112
1,587
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I think the House needs to talk to him about his knowledge of his brother's activities at Nakatomi Plaza.