[From article]
The MIT economist who is the brains behind Obamacare has made quite a stir with his admission that President Obama’s health care takeover was built on lies. Mr. Gruber says he was willing to say and do whatever it took to advance the scheme, and now it’s clear why. Obamacare made Mr. Gruber a multimillionaire, and at the expense of the taxpayers.
[. . .]
Those “stupid” people have been extremely generous to Mr. Gruber. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2010 investigated the $297,600 that the Department of Health and Human Services paid Mr. Gruber to sing the praises of the health care scheme. Congress — or part of Congress — was concerned that this payoff violated a federal law against paid government propaganda, but the GAO said it wasn’t a violation because Mr. Gruber had written his propaganda on his own time. Officially, he was paid only to “analyze various health care reform proposals and identify cost and coverage implications.”
[. . .]
Minnesota, for example, used federal Obamacare grants to pay Mr. Gruber to attend one meeting, participate in a biweekly email list and print a copy of the report, all for $329,000. Wisconsin paid Mr. Gruber $400,000 for the same material, requested by the office of then-Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat. When the report was presented, Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, didn’t want Mr. Gruber at the news conference. Vermont is paying him another $400,000. Such a deal!
West Virginia, Maine, Colorado and Oregon have partaken of Mr. Gruber’s services, too, guaranteeing him a tidy sum. The money bought lies and deception. That’s Mr. Gruber’s characterization, not ours. “If you had a law which made it explicit that healthy people are going to pay in and sick people get money,” said Mr. Gruber, “it would not have passed.”
[. . .]
Given the amount of federal cash Mr. Gruber continues to pocket, Congress has a duty to order a full and complete audit of this work to make sure that no laws were broken and that the “stupid” taxpayers have received their money’s worth. While they’re at it, inquirers ought to consider whether Mr. Gruber’s dishonest politicking violates any ethical code at MIT. This flagrant Gruberism is another reason to repeal this abortion of a health care law.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/13/editorial-jonathan-grubers-payday/
EDITORIAL: Jonathan Gruber’s payday
Taxpayers paid millions for the deceptions of the Obamacare architect
By THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Thursday, November 13, 2014
* * *
[From article]
But Gruber repeatedly said, “No comment!” when asked about his videotaped remarks at academic conferences, now providing Republicans with ammo for a new attack on Obamacare — a controversy dubbed #GruberGate on Twitter. The Internet firestorm was sparked this week when a video surfaced of Gruber saying he and others who drafted the Obamacare law counted on the “stupidity of the American voter” to get it passed.
He told MSNBC he “spoke inappropriately,” but three more videos of disparaging remarks emerged.
It’s hardly the first time Gruber’s own words have gotten him into hot water.
The Herald reported last February on a private memo Gruber sent to other board members blasting the group for “falling down on our jobs” and being “disinterested” in overseeing the state’s Obamacare project.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2014/11/gruber_give_health_connector_a_chance
Gruber: Give Health Connector a ‘chance’
Under-fire prof touts relaunch
Friday, November 14, 2014
By: Chris Cassidy
Boston Herald
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