Jonathan Gruber, a MIT economist who was instrumental in helping craft the ObamaCare healthcare law, has been exposed as a liar, but largely by the conservative media. His statements have also exposed the political maneuvers of the administration in crafting Obamacare.
Conservative media outlets, based off of the findings of Rich Weinstein (a disenchanted American who lost his health insurance due to ObamaCare), reported at least four times where Gruber told an audience about how the architects of ObamaCare lied to the American people and lawmakers. On one occasion, Gruber said they wrote the legislation in a “tortured” manner because of the “stupidity of the American voter.” Here’s a timeline of Gruber’s lies and misrepresentations:
Monday, 11/10/14:
- News surfaces that Gruber said those crafting the law wrote it the way they did to take advantage of the “stupidity of the American voter” at a 2013 event at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn).
- Fox News was unable to get permission to run video: https://twitter.com/kerpen/status/531876628482519041
- The video was taken down by Penn, and then different footage was uploaded in its place: http://dailycaller.com/2014/11/10/u-penn-deletes-video-of-obamacare-architect-insulting-american-voters/
Tuesday 11/11/14:
- Megyn Kelly of Fox News shows the first video from Penn, as well as a second damaging video in which Gruber says, “The American voters are too stupid to understand the difference.” She says on air that she had offered Gruber to come on her show to explain himself: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/fox-airs-new-gruber-video-voters-too-stupid-to-understand-the-difference/
- But, instead, Gruber had appeared on MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow show to offer a half apology: http://www.aim.org/aim-column/the-deceitful-selling-of-obamacare-coming-home-to-roost/
Wednesday 11/12/14:
- An additional video comes to light, in which Gruber claims that part of ObamaCare exploits “the lack of economic understanding of the American voter.”
- Video 3: http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/12/politics/gruber-obamacare-third-video/index.html
Thursday 11/13/14:
- CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper reported that they found a fourth video of Gruber talking about President Obama’s political spin on Obamacare: http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/13/politics/tapper-gruber/index.html
- Nancy Pelosi denies she knows Gruber and his work, but The Washington Post, among other media organizations, points out that she quoted him in 2009:
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/11/13/nancy-pelosi-says-she-doesnt-know-who-jonathan-gruber-is-she-touted-his-work-in-2009/
- Twitchy Team elaborates on Pelosi’s remarks regarding Gruber: http://twitchy.com/2014/11/13/jonathan-who-nancy-sgt-schultz-pelosi-says-she-has-no-clue-who-this-gruber-guy-is/
- Also, the Washington Post reported that Gruber received $400,000 for consulting work on ObamaCare: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2014/11/14/did-jonathan-gruber-earn-almost-400000-from-the-obama-administration/
Saturday 11/14/2014:
- The Twitchy Team highlights CNN’s Jake Tapper’s tweet about a 2012 Obama campaign video which touted Gruber’s role in ObamaCare: http://twitchy.com/2014/11/15/2012-ofa-truth-team-video-features-jonathan-gruber-touting-o-care-development-role/
- The Daily Caller reported that altogether, Gruber has taken in close to $6 million from various government entities since 2000: http://dailycaller.com/2014/11/14/gruber-has-made-at-least-5-9-million-for-government-work/
Sunday 11/15/2014:
- Obama tells the press that Gruber was “some advisor who was never on our staff”: http://freebeacon.com/politics/obama-calls-the-architect-of-obamacare-some-advisor-who-never-worked-on-our-staff/
