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Damage Control: Obama Disavows Gruber, Insists WH Didn't Mislead on Obamacare
Townhall.com ^ | November 17, 2014 | Guy Benson

Posted on 11/17/2014 8:04:51 AM PST by Kaslin

Grubergate's" ongoing drumbeat is taking its toll on the White House, and the president doth protest too much:

President Barack Obama denied Sunday that his signature health care reform law was deceptively marketed, rejecting statements by a consultant on the plan who said aspects of Obamacare were designed to take advantage of the “stupidity” of voters. “The fact that an adviser who was never on our staff expressed an opinion that I completely disagree with in terms of the voters is not a reflection on the actual process that was run,” Obama declared at a press conference here, speaking for the first time about the comments by MIT economist Jonathan Gruber. When the president was asked whether he had intentionally misled the public in order to get the law passed, he replied: “No. I did not.”

Yes you did, sir.  You lied, misled and distorted at virtually every stage of the process:

Obamacare Promises: Then vs. Now

Your signature law has betrayed and shredded the central pledges on which it was sold; it is objectively failing, based upon the metrics for success you erected.  Millions can't keep their plans and doctors.  Premiums and out-of-pocket costs are rising for millions more (including among many new "beneficiaries").  The national healthcare tab is increasing, not decreasing.  And the true costs and outcomes of the law were purposefully camouflaged by your administration.  As Jonathan Gruber said himself, "lack of transparency" was a "huge political advantage."  Your team used cynical accounting tricks and misdirection to cook the books with CBO in order to maintain the charade that the health law would be a cost-reducing enterprise. In other Gruber classic, he admitted that the "lower costs" promise was dubious from the start, but was repeated on a loop by government officials because that's what the public "want[ed] to hear."  That's the definition of misleading.  And it's the reason why even some of the law's supporters are admitting that it was peddled on a "foundation of lies."  Of course, not everyone was fooled at the time. Paul Ryan famously deconstructed the fiscal chicanery prior to Obamacare's passage:

Paul Ryan: Hiding Spending Doesn't Reduce Spending

As for Obama's excuse that Gruber was "never on our staff," he's splitting hairs.  Gruber was paid approximately $400,000 by the Obama administration to consult and assist in the Obamacare design process.  According to a glowing 2012 profile in the New York Times, "after Mr. Gruber helped the administration put together the basic principles of the proposal, the White House lent him to Capitol Hill to help Congressional staff members draft the specifics of the legislation."  His fingerprints are all over this law.  He's boasted about his granular involvement.  He's been paid handsomely by the White House, helped draft the law's specifics, and was praised to the hilt by Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi (who's now feigning ignorance of his very existence).  So the fact that he's proudly informed numerous audiences that the law was constructed on fabrications and falsehoods, and that he's been caught in a five-alarm lie pertaining to a key legal challenge to the law, is about as relevant as it gets.  Oh, and how often does Obama strategize on crucial legislation with minor, irrelevant, non-members of his staff?  The president knew Obamacare wouldn't sell on the merits, so he turned to Jonathan Gruber to help him hide the football:

SMOKING GUN! Gruber Admits Obama Was in Room During Planning of Cadillac Lie


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: 0bamacare; gruber; grubergate; grubering; obamagrubering
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How stupid does that arrogant pos occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave think we are?
1 posted on 11/17/2014 8:04:51 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

2 posted on 11/17/2014 8:05:23 AM PST by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: Kaslin

"The EXEMPT protect my lies. Always have. Always will."

3 posted on 11/17/2014 8:06:27 AM PST by Diogenesis (The EXEMPT Congress is complicit in the absence of impeachment)
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To: Kaslin

This isn’t damage control.

This is a psychotic disconnect from the real world


4 posted on 11/17/2014 8:06:49 AM PST by LMAO (("Begging hands and Bleeding hearts will only cry out for more"...Anthem from Rush))
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To: Kaslin

He expects the liberals in the media to cover for him. He feels he can say and do whatever he wants and not be called out on it.


5 posted on 11/17/2014 8:07:29 AM PST by Dilbert San Diego (s)
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To: Kaslin

If he wasn’t even on the staff, what did they pay the people who were on the staff??

Get your popcorn. Gruber couldn’t keep his mouth shut. More and more clips are coming out.

The arrogance is breathtaking.


6 posted on 11/17/2014 8:07:36 AM PST by dan on the right
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To: Kaslin

7 posted on 11/17/2014 8:08:03 AM PST by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment, a Matter of Fact, Not a Matter of Opinion)
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To: Kaslin

I guess he doesn’t know Pelosi either.


8 posted on 11/17/2014 8:09:49 AM PST by RedMDer (May we always be happy and may our enemies always know it. - Sarah Palin, 10-18-2010)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

Is there a point where his lies become untenable???


9 posted on 11/17/2014 8:12:51 AM PST by gov_bean_ counter (Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools)
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To: Kaslin

its very simple,,, and we know it then,, Øbama said what ever he wanted to get elected.
Øbama will blame the election process for making him lie . . .


10 posted on 11/17/2014 8:13:28 AM PST by ßuddaßudd (>> F U B O << "What the hell kind of country is this if I can only hate a man if he's white?")
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To: Kaslin
must be aimed at those stooopid people gruber was talking about
11 posted on 11/17/2014 8:14:40 AM PST by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -w- NO Pity for the LAZY - 86-44)
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To: Kaslin

Real. I mean come on. He only just learned (?) about it on the evening noose yesterday. Apparently just another “some guy in the neighborhood” scenario again.


12 posted on 11/17/2014 8:15:53 AM PST by rktman (Served in the Navy to protect "their" rights so they can now try to infringe on mine. Weird huh?)
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To: Kaslin

typical hood tactic even when caught in the act..

“that’s my story, and i’m sticking to it!”


13 posted on 11/17/2014 8:18:11 AM PST by TexasFreeper2009 (Obama lied .. the economy died.)
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To: Kaslin
who was never on our staff

The "not on the staff" weaseling is becoming widespread. It's like hiring a mercenary so you can claim that the military wasn't involved. Maybe technically true, but ultimately a deception.

14 posted on 11/17/2014 8:19:19 AM PST by KarlInOhio (The IRS: either criminally irresponsible in backup procedures or criminally responsible of coverup.)
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To: Kaslin
Gruber of the zombie apocalypse.


15 posted on 11/17/2014 8:20:07 AM PST by cripplecreek (You can't half ass conservatism.)
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To: Kaslin

16 posted on 11/17/2014 8:22:00 AM PST by Mich Patriot (Pitch black is the new "transparent.")
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To: Kaslin

But anything Blackwater did was “Bush’s fault”.


17 posted on 11/17/2014 8:25:22 AM PST by tacticalogic
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To: TexasFreeper2009

Obummer should just go ahead and say “The public likes to be lied to. Look and how they responded to my hopey dopey spew years ago.”


18 posted on 11/17/2014 8:26:50 AM PST by angry elephant (Endangered species in Seattle)
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To: cripplecreek

Now that there is funny!!


19 posted on 11/17/2014 8:28:11 AM PST by cld51860 (Volo pro veritas)
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To: Kaslin

We know why his skin is brown.


20 posted on 11/17/2014 8:28:34 AM PST by longfellow (Bill Maher, the 21st hijacker.)
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