Gruber Today
[guest post by Dana]
Just a few highlights of Gruber’s statement before a House committee today. Mostly, he wants you to know he’s very sorry for calling you stupid. Issa started the ball rolling:
“You made a series of troubling statements that were not only an insult to the American people, but revealed a pattern of intentional misleading [of] the public about the true impact and nature of ObamaCare.”
Gruber followed with his mea culpa:
Over the past weeks a number of videos have emerged from these appearances. In excerpts of these videos I am shown making a series of glib, thoughtless, and sometimes downright insulting comments. I apologized for the first of these videos earlier. But the ongoing attention paid to these videos has made me realize that a fuller accounting is
necessary.I would like to begin by apologizing sincerely for the offending comments that I made. In some cases I made uninformed and glib comments about the political process
behind health care reform. I am not an expert on politics and my tone implied that I was, which is wrong. In other cases I simply made insulting and mean comments that are totally uncalled for in any situation. I sincerely apologize both for conjecturing with a tone of expertise and for doing so in such a disparaging fashion. It is never appropriate to try to make oneself seem more important or smarter by demeaning others. I know better. I knew better. I am embarrassed, and I am sorry.
Oh, brother.
Further:
In addition to apologizing for my unacceptable remarks, I would like to clarify some misconceptions about the content and context of my comments. Let me be very clear: I do not think that the Affordable Care Act was passed in a non-transparent fashion. The issues I raised in my comments, such as redistribution of risk through insurance market reform and the structure of the Cadillac tax, were roundly debated throughout 2009 and early 2010 before the law was passed. Reasonable people can disagree about the merits of these policies, but it is completely clear that these issues were debated thoroughly during the drafting and passage of the ACA.
I also would like to clarify some misperceptions about my January 2012 remarks concerning the availability of tax credits in states that did not set up their own health
insurance exchanges. The portion of these remarks that has received so much attention lately omits a critical component of the context in which I was speaking. The point I believe I was making was about the possibility that the federal government, for whatever reason, might not create a federal exchange. If that were to occur, and only in that context, then the only way that states could guarantee that their citizens would receive tax credits would be to set up their own exchanges. I have a long-standing and well-documented belief that health care reform legislation in general, and the ACA in particular, must include mechanisms for residents in all states to obtain tax credits. Indeed, my microsimulation model for the ACA expressly modeled for the citizens of all states to be eligible for tax credits, whether served directly by a state exchange or by a federal exchange.
On a side note, clearly the Democrats on the committee were very concerned about anything but substance:
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., top Democrat on the committee, also criticized Gruber for giving opponents of the law a “PR gift.”
“You wrapped it up with a bow,” Cummings said, while claiming the controversy “has nothing to do with the substance of this issue.”
I’m tired, so I will point you to Noah Rothman’s interesting look at how Gruber won’t deny the White House wanted to trick Congress in passing the ACA
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (8e74ce) — 12/9/2014 @ 5:57 pmI think the question to Dr. Gruber, and Rep. Cummings, is, “How stupid do you think we are?”
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 12/9/2014 @ 6:32 pmThe point I believe I was making was about the possibility that the federal government, for whatever reason, might not create a federal exchange.
clown.
happyfeet (831175) — 12/9/2014 @ 6:43 pmI think Rep Issa took a wrong path. It should not have been how dare you insult us and the vothers, but how dare you deceive law makers and the public. And he really should have been pin downed Gruber on the ‘exchanges’ setup.
btw: the ranking Dem in his opening statement pulled a Gruber by making such misleading and false statements concerning the Ocare.
seeRpea (01f6d3) — 12/9/2014 @ 7:03 pmFor all his many qualities, personal, practical, and political, I’ve always respected and admired Mitt Romney. And I still think he was probably the least worst of a very crummy GOP field (the better alternatives all stayed on the sidelines). But every time I hear this Gruber guy, I have to restrain myself from smacking my palm into my forehead: To run against Obama and Obamacare, the GOP put the the guy who hired Gruber to begin with?
Water under the bridge and all that. Onward and upward. But … [smack].
Beldar (fa637a) — 12/9/2014 @ 7:09 pmThat ought to have read, “the GOP put up the guy who hired Gruber to begin with?” (Facepalming interfered with my proofreading.)
Beldar (fa637a) — 12/9/2014 @ 7:10 pmAnother dick swinging event brought to you by congress. Team r doesn’t need conservatives
mg (31009b) — 12/9/2014 @ 7:23 pmTeam r needs a lobotomy.
Boenher should be hit by a bus, or a car, or a truck, or a train.
mg (31009b) — 12/9/2014 @ 7:32 pmWhat a pathetic creep this molester is.
The clips I saw from the hearing appeared to be straight stonewalling. Hiding behind a facade of being sorry and claiming to not be a politician, thus not accountable for anything.
Basically, the Obama Administration in a nutshell.
DejectedHead (5443cc) — 12/9/2014 @ 7:34 pmYou know you’re in trouble when your best defense is “I’m a douche”
CDM (03a69a) — 12/9/2014 @ 7:37 pmGruber was embarrassed he got caught saying what he said by the wrong people. If he wasn’t caught, he wouldn’t be fake apologizing for telling the truth.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 12/9/2014 @ 7:59 pmGruber Grubered his apology.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 12/9/2014 @ 8:25 pm11. daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 12/9/2014 @ 7:59 pm
Exactly. His entire testimony before Congress today was a lie. It was during the recorded speeches over the past few years that he spoke the truth (i.e. he believes the American voters are stupid, etc.)
aunursa (932331) — 12/9/2014 @ 8:40 pmGruber didn’t have to wait until today to apologize. He only did because he was told to. If he truly “knew” and “knows” better, as he claims, he wouldn’t have a) made the comments in the first place, b) waited to apologize, instead he would have done so immediately lest anyone assume the “glib” comments were anything but.
Clearly, he still thinks we’re stupid.
Dana (8e74ce) — 12/9/2014 @ 8:50 pmdaleyrocks (bf33e9) — 12/9/2014 @ 7:59 pm
This is manifestedly the case.
Fake apologizing maybe, or an overdone apology, but I think it’s true that he didn’t know what he as talking about and he was pretending to be an insider, when he wasn’t. I don’t think he even pondered whether or not the voters are stupid – he was just bloviating.
The apology is half-truths. There was gamesmanship in the scoring going on – the thing was, though, that everybody on both sides of the aisle, knew it. Nobody was fooled. Except maybe people new to the subject.
And he says he always expected or originally expected, that citizens of all states would be eligible for tax credits. Well, that’s true. It’s also true that in 2012 he said something different, and he presumed to explain why. He avoids explaining exactly what he did,
Sammy Finkelman (7e7e58) — 12/9/2014 @ 9:02 pmDana (8e74ce) — 12/9/2014 @ 8:50 pm
He wouldn’t have made the comments, unless he was consciously lying at the time.
As Scott Pelley put it, and maybe it’s somewhere in his testimony, he was pretending to be more of an insider than he was. He actually got some things wrong.
Gruber also knows that what really went on, although different than what he described, mostly gaming the CBO scoring, wasn’t pretty, and he avoided clarifying it.
Sammy Finkelman (7e7e58) — 12/9/2014 @ 9:08 pm“I think it’s true that he didn’t know what he as talking about”
“Gruber also knows that what really went on, although different than what he described”
Sammy – When you settle into a position, let us know.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 12/9/2014 @ 10:12 pmWhat is telling is the reaction of the audiences to whom he made those remarks. They laughed as if they and he were in the superior race.
Richard Aubrey (f6d8de) — 12/10/2014 @ 6:05 amWent to an ed reform meeting years ago, including a couple of DC insiders. One said, “People went to school so they think they know something about education”. That got a laugh from the usual suspeects and it was so much fun another of them said it. Got another laugh.
Thing is, these clowns act–and make law and regulation and propaganda from this position and think themselves right on all counts.
Lying like railroad tracks, here, there, everywhere.
DNF (7b206c) — 12/10/2014 @ 6:15 amFirst thing we do, we kill all the economists.
nk (dbc370) — 12/10/2014 @ 6:17 am“I think it’s true that he didn’t know what he as talking about”
“Gruber also knows that what really went on, although different than what he described”
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 12/9/2014 @ 10:12 pm
Gruber, as he testified was conjecturing – about the motives for what went on (and even, at one point, about the idea that there was some kind of attempt to forcestates to set up exchanges)
He wss pretending to give inside information, which he didn’t have.
He also knew what he was doing, and what he was doing was different than what he said. What he was doing was gaming the CBO score. He had no idea why the Democratic leadership was up to when it was gaming the CBO score. It wasn’t to actually fool anyone in Congress, because everybody knows it is nonsense, but without CBO scores they can’t do a budget.
That’s why I say get rid of the CBO, get rid of the budget, and let the only test of the bidget impact of any legislaton be reality.
Sammy Finkelman (7e7e58) — 12/10/2014 @ 6:32 am“let the only test of the bidget impact of any legislaton be reality.”
– Leviticus
Reality is a patriarchomisogynalfascistic institution, h8er. I’m pro-surreality.
Leviticus (f9a067) — 12/10/2014 @ 8:03 amWhoops. Speaking of surreality, that comment was made by Sammy, not me.
Leviticus (f9a067) — 12/10/2014 @ 9:47 amSammy – I agree that Gruber knew exactly what he was doing and that it was to game the CBO score and that it was not to fool anybody in Congress because the people he was working with in Congress did not need fooling because they too knew exactly what was going on. It was as he said to fool the stupid American people who didn’t like the bill and who clobbered members of Congress at the open houses over during the summer of 2009 about it. He admitted what he said were not lies just that the language was inappropriate.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 12/10/2014 @ 9:55 am24. Cummings is livid because the comments “did not reflect reality”
When you locate ‘reality’, Congresstick, send us a postcard.
DNF (7b206c) — 12/10/2014 @ 10:01 amand later today, GOP proved Gruber was correct:
seeRpea (01f6d3) — 12/10/2014 @ 5:25 pmhttp://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/gop-cuts-spending-deal-yes-obamas-amnesty-thru-least-feb-27-no-light
24. I don’t think it was to fool the American people, because most of the American people didn’t care about the impact of the bill on the deficit. They weren’t clobbering members of Congress at the open houses over the bill because it was going to cost money, but because it was going to damage health care, or raise their costs.
It was almost inside baseball. They wanted to limit how much Obamacare impacted the deficit because a higher deficit would affect other legislation in Congress.
Sammy Finkelman (03c82c) — 12/10/2014 @ 5:35 pm