Obamacare Architect: Yeah, We Lied to The "Stupid" American People to Get It Passed

[bonnie]

Obamacare Architect: Yeah, We Lied to The "Stupid" American People to Get It Passed Katie Pavlich | Nov 10, 2014

 

 

Meet Jonathan Gruber, a professor at MIT and an architect of Obamacare. During a panel event last year about how the legislation passed, turning over a sixth of the U.S. economy to the government, Gruber admitted that the Obama administration went through "tortuous" measures to keep the facts about the legislation from the American people, including covering up the redistribution of wealth from the healthy to the sick in the legislation that Obamacare is in fact a tax. The video of his comments just recently surfaced ahead of the second open enrollment period for Obamacare at Healthcare.gov. 

"You can't do it political, you just literally cannot do it. Transparent financing and also transparent spending. I mean, this bill was written in a tortured way to make sure CBO did not score the mandate as taxes. If CBO scored the mandate as taxes the bill dies. Okay? So it’s written to do that," Gruber said. "In terms of risk rated subsidies, if you had a law which said that healthy people are going to pay in, you made explicit healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it would not have passed. Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really really critical to get for the thing to pass. Look, I wish Mark was right that we could make it all transparent, but I’d rather have this law than not."

A few points. 1. Notice how lying to the American people is completely justified by Obama administration standards so long as the ends justify the means. Gruber would "rather have this law than not," and therefore purposely lying about what the law actually is in order to get it passed is completely acceptable. regardless of the negative effects it has on the lives of Americans. 2. Lack of transparency might be a huge political advantage in the short term, but long term there are consequences from voters, which is exactly what we saw last week during the Democrat blood bath at every level of government across the country. 3. Insulting Americans as stupid and deceiving them is a really good way to lose your power on Capitol Hill, which is again exactly what we saw last week in the 2014 midterms. Twenty-eight Senators who voted for Obamacare are now out of the Senate for one reason or another. 4. Obamacare in its entirely was "sold" on lies. From the promise to keep your doctor to claims insurance rates would go down, not up -- to hiding that the legislation was in fact a tax until of course it was necessary to argue it was a tax to save the legislation at the Supreme Court. Government bureaucrats promising an expansion of care knowing care under Obamacare would be limited, etc. Hell, even the official name for Obamacare, "The Affordable Care Act," is a lie. Obamacare isn't affordable. 5. The process through which Obamacare was shoved through and down the throats of the American people happened as a result of Harry Reid changing Senate rules and without the support of voters. The legislation didn't receive a single Republican vote in the House or the Senate. Also, remember this? 

Or this?

"Absolutely not a tax increase."

Obamacare is a sham and the American people have been lied to and deceived every step of the way. Further, Obamacare has never been popular with the American people. Not when it passed and not now. It should also be noted that since before Obamacare was passed conservatives have been rightly screaming about its true contents and impact on American families and the economy. They've been right all along and were called racists for sounding the alarm. 

Overall, a lack of transparency has been key to the Obama administration's existence on a whole range of topics, which is why it is one of the least transparent administrations in history despite President Obama's promises. 

 

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[Gregory Matthews]

Well, to see what Gruber really said, you need to go to:

 

http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/gruber.asp

 

This is a 51 + minute video of a 2013 speach.

 

Please note the positive things that he said about it.

 

Note the changes that he would make.

 

Note his comments that the so-called Cadilac tax is to low and should be higher to more people would participate.

 

Decide for yourself if you think the material which largely came from an 18 secont segment is a fair representation.  In anyu case, view the entire videeo to get the context.

[joeb]

Isn't it "funny" how the leaks proving the flagrant dishonesty and arrogance of the Obama administration just keep on coming out?  All the liberals here said we conservatives were paranoid and hateful when we've said what was going on, and here's just more proof we've been correct all along.  I wonder how many liberals around here will admit to being completely wrong about this? 

 

All you liberals who thought Obamacare was a wonderful idea and supported it now know that Obama and the people who wrote the law  percieved  you as stupid.  How's that feel?  I bet not very good.  Does it make you take a second look at the liberal agenda now that you know it depends upon voter stupidity to reach its goals? 

[bonnie]

Isn't it "funny" how the leaks proving the flagrant dishonesty and arrogance of the Obama administration just keep on coming out?  All the liberals here said we conservatives were paranoid and hateful when we've said what was going on, and here's just more proof we've been correct all along.  I wonder how many liberals around here will admit to being completely wrong about this? 

 

All you liberals who thought Obamacare was a wonderful idea and supported it now know that Obama and the people who wrote the law  percieved  you as stupid.  How's that feel?  I bet not very good.  Does it make you take a second look at the liberal agenda now that you know it depends upon voter stupidity to reach its goals? 

My SIL just received her new premium notice under the laughingly called ACA. Her premium is now 675.00 a month with 5,000.00 deductible.My brother is on medicare and pays a substantially higher supplemental  premium than we do in MN.

She is simply dropping it and will place the insurance premium in the bank. Willing to pay the penalty for now.

Maybe some here will still claim this law was honest and above board even tho it is fairly obvious when you have to pass a bill first to find out what is in it there is something very wrong with that.

Obama has been proven false in his assertion that if you like your plan and Dr you can keep both. There will always be those that benefit from a bad law and in this case the pay it for me crowd are the winners

[bonnie]

Meet the Mild-Mannered Investment Advisor Who's Humiliating the Administration Over Obamacare

Nov 11, 2014 12:56 PM CST

A “nobody” named Richkeeps digging up damaging clips about the ACA.

 David Weigel

t daveweigel

Rich Weinstein is not a reporter. He does not have a blog. Until this week, the fortysomething's five-year oldTwitter account had a follower count in the low double digits.

“I’m an investment advisor,” Weinstein tells me from his home near Philadelphia. “I’m a nobody. I’m the guy who lives in his mom’s basement wearing a tinfoil hat.” (He's joking about the mom and the tinfoil.)

He's also behind a series of scoops that could convince the Supreme Court to dismantle part of the Affordable Care Act. Weinstein has absorbed hours upon hours of interviews with Jonathan Gruber, an MIT professor who advised the Massachusetts legislature when it created “Romneycare” and the Congress when it created “Obamacare.” Conservatives had been looking for ways to demonstrate that the wording of the ACA denied insurance subsidies to consumers in states that did not create their own health exchanges. Weinstein found a clip of Gruber suggesting that states that did not create health insurance exchanges risked giving up the ACA's subsidies; it went straight into the King v. Burwell brief, and into a case that's currently headed to the Supreme Court.

“I’m a nobody. I’m the guy who lives in his mom’s basement wearing a tinfoil hat.”

Rich Weinstein

A few days ago, Weinstein pulled a short clip from Gruber's year-old appearance at a University of Pennsylvania health care conference. As a crowd murmured with laughter, Gruber explained that the process that created the ACA was, by necessity, obfuscated to pull one over on voters.

“This bill was written in a tortured way to make sure the CBO did not score the mandate as taxes,” said Gruber. “Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. Call it the stupidity of the America voter, or whatever.”

 

 

Weinstein's scoop went around the world in a hurry. American Commitment, a conservative 501©(4) founded by Americans for Prosperity veteran Phil Kerpen, published the clip on its YouTube channel. Kerpen promoted it through tweets, which quickly became live coverage of the media outlets discovering Gruber.

 

 

 

[joeb]

My SIL just received her new premium notice under the laughingly called ACA. Her premium is now 675.00 a month with 5,000.00 deductible.My brother is on medicare and pays a substantially higher supplemental  premium than we do in MN.

Ah, yes....  $13,100 a year before she recieves a penney's worth of benefits.  Truly affordable.  NOT. 

 

I saw another Obamacare special the other night on how it's working in New England.  A 20-something guy was saying his insurance is now $420/month and has a $4000 deductible.  That's  $9040/year before he gets a penny's worth of insurance coverage.  I remember how often I went to the doctor in my 20's.  If current 20-somethings use a doctor as often as I did they will be paying somewhere around $9000 per doctor's office visit.  How affordable can things be?  What an honest law.....

[joeb]

Another way to look at this is on a per hour worked cost.  The 20-something guy from New England is paying $4.34/hr based on a 2080 hour work year(40/week 52 week/year).  

 

Bonnie's SIL would be paying $6.39/hour on the same work schedule. 

 

This is what you liberals call "affordable"? 

[bonnie]

Another way to look at this is on a per hour worked cost.  The 20-something guy from New England is paying $4.34/hr based on a 2080 hour work year(40/week 52 week/year).  

 

Bonnie's SIL would be paying $6.39/hour on the same work schedule. 

 

This is what you liberals call "affordable"? 

I wonder how many of those on this forum that frequently tell us of their education and expertise would defend and sign a contract if they are told

Oh No,you can't know what is in the contract until you sign it.

Would they overlook the lies and say Oh,but look at the good things he has to say.

I learned at a very early age not to sign a contract until I knew what was in it. If someone lied to me you can bet there would be no contract signed.

[Aliensanctuary]

Our office visit co-pay will go up to $30 per visit and our yearly deductible increases to $3000 after Jan 1. My employer pays more than 2/3 of our monthly health insurance premium. Our monthly payment is $310 with dental added on. We have had no complaints with Blue Cross, but our company is switching to Blue Shield and dumping the paperwork on us, so we have to send the provider's bills to the insurance company which then sends a check to us, hopefully, then we pay the provider.

 

Sometimes I think that Obamacare is only the tip of the iceberg of deceit and disrespect by our arrogant govt. officials. Maybe they just want us to die and no longer be a problem to them.

[lazarus]

 

Sometimes I think that Obamacare is only the tip of the iceberg of deceit and disrespect by our arrogant govt. officials. Maybe they just want us to die and no longer be a problem to them.

 

Or maybe its just that they want millions more to be insured. Your increases are part of that process.

[CoAspen]

Or maybe its just that they want millions more to be insured. Your increases are part of that process.

 

What, Am I my brothers keeper? Think about others?

(what is this world coming too)

[Gregory Matthews]

Bonnie, you tell us in post # 5, that you SIL pays a Medicare premium of $675 dolalrs a month with a 5K deductible and that your BIL pays more than you do in MD for Medicare.  At least that I how I understood you.

 

I would like to take a closer look at the actual figures and I will cite the 2015 figures, unless I give a different date.  Also, I will round the figures to even dollar amounts and not give actual figures to the penny.

 

First, Medicare consists of the following parts:

 

Part A:  The majority of people earned this benefit due to prior employment and therefore pay nothing for it now.  The 20015 monthly rate for this coverage, for people who did not earn entitlement due to prior employment is scheduled to be $407.  Due to the Affordable Care Patient Act (ACPA), the 2015 price is reduced from the 2014 price of $426 per month.   Part A has always been high and long before the ACPA. 

 

Part B: The common monthly premium paid by most people is $105.  This remains the same as in 2014.  Some high income people pay a higher rate and some low income people pay a lower rate.  In addition, people who did not sign up for Part B at the time they were eligible pay a rate that can be much higher.  That is due to the choice they made not to sign up earlier.

 

Part C;  This is commonly called Medicare Advantage.  People choose whether or not to sign up for this plan and the monthly costs vary widely due to differences in coverage and other reasons.  In any case, people choose their plan, the coverage and the price.  

 

Part D:  This is the drug coverage plan.  Again, people choose whether or not to enroll in this plan.  They choose their coverage and the price to pay.  The monthly costs can range from nothing to $71.

 

So, Bonnie, the monthly costs that your relatives and you are paying are due to the choices that you-all made and your income levels.

[bonnie]

Bonnie, you tell us in post # 5, that you SIL pays a Medicare premium of $675 dolalrs a month with a 5K deductible and that your BIL pays more than you do in MD for Medicare.  At least that I how I understood you.

 

I would like to take a closer look at the actual figures and I will cite the 2015 figures, unless I give a different date.  Also, I will round the figures to even dollar amounts and not give actual figures to the penny.

 

First, Medicare consists of the following parts:

 

Part A:  The majority of people earned this benefit due to prior employment and therefore pay nothing for it now.  The 20015 monthly rate for this coverage, for people who did not earn entitlement due to prior employment is scheduled to be $407.  Due to the Affordable Care Patient Act (ACPA), the 2015 price is reduced from the 2014 price of $426 per month.   Part A has always been high and long before the ACPA. 

 

Part B: The common monthly premium paid by most people is $105.  This remains the same as in 2014.  Some high income people pay a higher rate and some low income people pay a lower rate.  In addition, people who did not sign up for Part B at the time they were eligible pay a rate that can be much higher.  That is due to the choice they made not to sign up earlier.

 

Part C;  This is commonly called Medicare Advantage.  People choose whether or not to sign up for this plan and the monthly costs vary widely due to differences in coverage and other reasons.  In any case, people choose their plan, the coverage and the price.  

 

Part D:  This is the drug coverage plan.  Again, people choose whether or not to enroll in this plan.  They choose their coverage and the price to pay.  The monthly costs can range from nothing to $71.

 

So, Bonnie, the monthly costs that your relatives and you are paying are due to the choices that you-all made and your income levels.

Thanks for tutorial in Medicare,I have been dealing with medicare for 9 years now and am well acquainted with it

 

Let's take a closer look at what I actually said.......My SIL just received her new premium notice under the laughingly called ACA. Her premium is now 675.00 a month with 5,000.00 deductible.My brother is on medicare and pays a substantially higher supplemental  premium than we do in MN.

 

I said  my SIL received her premium notice under the AFC act,not medicare as she is not eligible age wise yet. Yes,she can choose a cheaper plan that would pay 60-70% of her medical bills if she qualified,leaving the rest for her. So much for the lie you can keep your plan if you like your plan. She had a decent affordable plan before Obama decided to save her money.

I referred to my brother,not BIL. His medicare premium was not mentioned.  His supplemental is substantially higher in the state he lives than mine. His  higher supplemental premium + medicare gives him the same coverage he had under his own plan prior to medicare.At a time when he can not afford the increase as easily.

Actually our  insurance expenses for my husband and myself are not due to wrong choices we made.. It is choose between,A B or C in supplemental coverage. Not a whole lot of difference in decent coverage.Yes,we can choose rock bottom premiums that leave us with some very sizable co-pays. Co-pays we can not cover.

Prescription D for my husband and I is 35.00 a month each  without co-pays on generic. Not all my husbands medications are generic and we have paid a co-pay. In Nov of last year one co-pay was 35.00,in Dec it was 104.00,in Jan it was 135.00,it is now 158.00.The prescription is 258.00 per month. 

Both Dr and druggist have told us it is going to get worse. Again, I will tend to go with those that deal with this dozens of times a day 

[bonnie]

What, Am I my brothers keeper? Think about others?

(what is this world coming too)

The best way for me to be "my brother's keeper" is first to take care of my family so I don't have to rely on a "brother" to do it for me.

Nor is there any biblical mandate to be my brother's keeper by force of government.

[Gregory Matthews]

Bonnie:  While my response was written in a manner that spoke directly to you, it was not intended to tutor you in Medicare.  Rather it was more intended to speak to others reading your post who may know less than you do about Medicare and in addition might have misunderstood some of what you posted.

 

There was not intent on my part to suggest that either you or anyone else had made wrong choices.  Choices in these matters are highly individual and probably complex.    No one standing outside the individual situation can suggest that someone made a wrong choice.

 

You correctly raise some issues that that are not related, directly, to the Affordable Care Patient Act, but are related to Medicare and have existed for some years prior to the AFCA. 

 

In any case, with your 9 years of experience with Medicare and your knowledge, you could have posted a post of longer length that would have more fully explained the issues.  As you did not, I chose to step in and post some information, that you likely knew but that others may not have known.

[bonnie]

Bonnie:  While my response was written in a manner that spoke directly to you, it was not intended to tutor you in Medicare.  Rather it was more intended to speak to others reading your post who may know less than you do about Medicare and in addition might have misunderstood some of what you posted.

 

There was not intent on my part to suggest that either you or anyone else had made wrong choices.  Choices in these matters are highly individual and probably complex.    No one standing outside the individual situation can suggest that someone made a wrong choice.

Choosing one that leads to enormous debt and one you can barely afford could be considered complex I suppose.

 

You correctly raise some issues that that are not related, directly, to the Affordable Care Patient Act, but are related to Medicare and have existed for some years prior to the AFCA.

Again,I will take the word of those that deal with the ramifications daily instead of arm chair experts. The rise in our co-pay is directly related.

The area of expertise of two very close family members is insurance cost,medicare and medicaid for very large companies. They are responsible for making the best informed choice possible.Their career's and family security depends on accuracy in their decisions ,not politics. They are not in agreement with you on the benefits of the AFC act. Nor is my druggist or family Dr.

In any case, with your 9 years of experience with Medicare and your knowledge, you could have posted a post of longer length that would have more fully explained the issues.  As you did not, I chose to step in and post some information, that you likely knew but that others may not have known.

Such as?  The issue of my SIL's premium hike? That is a fact. Nothing to do with medicare. Supplemental insurance is a independent policy  AFC is directly responsible for that. Yes,she can choose a basic plan that only pays 60-70% plus premiums. If something serious happened she can't do that. Nor can she afford the 675.00 a month plus paying the first 5,000.oo

[Aliensanctuary]

I suppose the Democrats have paid the price for pushing through Obamacare, in part, demonstrated by how many states voted Republicans into offices across the country. The increases, sometimes substantial, in insurance premiums are really just another tax in disguise, something not lost to all those stupid voters like me who voted out the Democrats.

[hch]

I suppose the Democrats have paid the price for pushing through Obamacare, in part, demonstrated by how many states voted Republicans into offices across the country. The increases, sometimes substantial, in insurance premiums are really just another tax in disguise, something not lost to all those stupid voters like me who voted out the Democrats.

 

I read in Daniel that God sets up "rulers" and that they are of the vilest of men (Daniel 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.)

 

Now that Republicanism and Protestantism has taken the House and Senate, I wonder how Daniel's comments will be fulfilled?

 

If the winners of this last US election are rulers, are they the "basest of men"? Will Americans get just what they asked for?

[joeb]

I suppose the Democrats have paid the price for pushing through Obamacare, in part, demonstrated by how many states voted Republicans into offices across the country. The increases, sometimes substantial, in insurance premiums are really just another tax in disguise, something not lost to all those stupid voters like me who voted out the Democrats.

One of the main architects of the law has come out multiple times and said that Obamacare is a tax.  They, the architects of the law and the Obama administration just wrote the law in such a tortured manner that this was disguised.  He said this law passed because of the stupidity of the American voter.  Their stupidity in all things economic.  The average, meaning liberal, voter does not understand that any cost for medical coverage ultimately comes down to the consumer.  Meaning, of course, that there is no free lunch no matter how many times the liberal voter is told there is, and no matter how much blind faith they put in that belief.