Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Democrats’ attempts to get away from Jonathan Gruber, translated
In the wake of controversial comments made by MIT economics professor Jonathan Gruber, a key architect of Obamacare, top Democrats have tried to distance themselves from him. Gruber's comments, made on various occasions, claimed that the health care law was advertised to the public with the intent to deceive, and that those who wrote and passed the law took advantage of the "stupidity of the American voters." Meanwhile, mainstream news outlets such as CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and the New York Times barely mentioned the surfacing of Gruber's comments, if they mentioned it at all. What do you think of these revelations and the efforts by Democrats to downplay them, considering the fact that Obamacare is now the law?
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Just because Gruber worked on the Affordable Care Act does not automatically make his comments true. Though Gruber probably did play a large role in the development of this law, it is possible that he is saying these things more to hurt the Democrats rather than to reveal a hidden truth to the public. The reaction of Democratic leaders is expected, as anyone would distance himself or herself from someone who is detrimental to his or her goals. Despite this, I still find it ridiculous that certain Democratic leaders pretend not to know Gruber, as lying will not solve anything. I am not sure whether the Affordable Care Act is taking advantage of the "stupidity of the American voters," but even if it is, it is not setting a precedent or anything. The PATRIOT Act comes to mind as another law that did what Gruber is claiming the ACA did, and taking advantage of voter stupidity is a tactic commonly utilized by both parties, not just the Democrats.
ReplyDeleteI tend to believe Gruber's comments. Gruber clearly played a large role considering he was brought in and played 400,000 dollars to help write the bill. Like Raman said, I am not sure whether or not the Affordable Care Act is taking advantage of "the stupidity of American voters". The government and Obama can deny this all they want. What bothers me is that they are denying basically even knowing Gruber. Clearly, you know him and worked with him significantly on the bill so there is no reason to act all immature and lie over basic facts.
ReplyDeleteAt this point the Democrats and government should just be honest. Gruber obviously worked on the bill so they definitely worked with him and therefore knew him. I understand why they would want to distance themselves from Gruber but come on. This whole situation, as Dan said, just seems immature.
ReplyDeleteThe Democrats denying that they know Gruber is not going to solve anything but stir up trouble. Why can't they just be honest and say that he did help with the bill. As Dan and the article said, Gruber was bought in and payed $400,000. Obviously he had to have contributed a part in the making of the bill because otherwise, why would be get paid so much. I think that the Democrats are just being immature at this point.
ReplyDeleteIt is weak to see someone lie to look better. Like Taryna said, it helps to be honest on all aspects of this issue. I think that politicians should be role models and that the more information that is revealed by the media tends to influence the public to distrust the people in charge of the country. I do agree with Dan however, that this issue is immature.
ReplyDeleteTo me it's difficult to actually believe anyone from Washington or anyone who has ties to the capital and someone like this who blatantly speaks out against something that they helped build shows the character of those people in power as well as those who help build the infrastructure of our country. These games that are being played hurt nobody except the people who pay the taxes and vote for these guys to be in office.
ReplyDeleteThe actions of the democrats to deny that they know Gruber is completely ludicrous. Obviously they know him and have worked with him on the bill, so why lie about it? In terms of believing Gruber, I think I sway towards believing him. I don't think he has any reason to lie since it is apparent that he did indeed work with the Democrats on the bill. I don't see any obvious motivation for him to lie about his claims.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm most confused about is why this guy was paid 400000 dollars to consult about this bill and then later comes out and states all the flaws with it. There are two things wrong with that. First, paying someone 400000 dollars just to consult seems like an over expenditure and a waste of tax payer money. Secondly, if he had a problem with the law taking advantage of American voters why didn't he say so during his consultation.
ReplyDeleteGruber can say whatever he wants about the bill, I think. He was paid money to consult on its formation; his own personal opinion might be that the law preys on stupid Americans, but that doesn't mean that the politicians who created feel the same way or that the comment is a true statement. Democrats are understandably distancing themselves from him, though, because most Americans would link Gruber's comments to Democrats. While it's childish for world leaders to lie by saying they've never even met him, politicians of every party lie all the time to save themselves.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely seems like some politicians are contradicting themselves when commenting on the involvement of Gruber in the Affordable Care Act. I can't tell what is worse, the fact that his role in creating the bill has been systematically lied about or the fact that he was paid $400,000. This event just further proves how rare it is to find an honest politician in Washington.
ReplyDeleteCall me crazy but I don't see a problem with affordable healthcare. I don't know what Gruber's problem is but obviously the Democrats picked the wrong guy for that job. Healthcare in the United States is ridiculously expensive and needs reform. Most Americans would like universal health care and Obamacare is a step in that direction.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rachel, to flat-out lie about being associated with someone is just ridiculous, but unfortunately that's the kind of ridiculous stuff going on in our government right now. I suppose I understand what these officials are trying to do, since this is such a controversial issue (though I also agree with Becky that it probably shouldn't be) they would want to appear neutral and avoid any sort of scandal. Still, lying, and lying badly, isn't going to save anyone's reputation.
ReplyDeleteGruber is right. Obamacare was passed because the American voter was stupid. Stupid enough to elect a man who would institute this new tax that has effectively raised, in some cases significantly, the cost of health insurance for many Americans.
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