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WSJ: Gruber worked far more closely with White House than previously acknowledged
Hotair ^ | 06/22/2015 | Ed Morrissey

Posted on 06/22/2015 7:05:45 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Gruber’s baaaaaa-aaaaack, and badder than ever. The Wall Street Journal’s Stephanie Armour got 20,000 pages of e-mail from the House Oversight Committee that MIT professor Jonathan Gruber exchanged with the White House on ObamaCare, making it clear that he played a far more integral role in its development than the Obama administration acknowledged after videos emerged of Gruber contradicting their position on King v Burwell. The e-mails cover 14 months and demonstrate intense involvement from the beginning of Barack Obama’s presidency to the passage of the Affordable Care Act:

Jonathan Gruber, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist whose comments about the health-care law touched off a political furor, worked more closely than previously known with the White House and top federal officials to shape the law, previously unreleased emails show.

The emails, provided by the House Oversight Committee to The Wall Street Journal, cover messages Mr. Gruber sent from January 2009 through March 2010. Committee staffers said they worked with MIT to obtain the 20,000 pages of emails. …

The emails show frequent consultations between Mr. Gruber and top Obama administration staffers and advisers in the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services on the Affordable Care Act. They show he informed HHS about interviews with reporters and discussions with lawmakers, and he consulted with HHS about how to publicly describe his role.

Politically, at least, it makes it a little more difficult to distance Obama and his team from repeated remarks like this from Gruber:

More than one video has emerged of Gruber making similar comments.

Also, remarks in the e-mails themselves from White House staffers calling Gruber “our hero” make Obama’s description of Gruber’s relationship to the team look particularly dishonest. Shortly after a series of videos emerged showing Gruber’s contempt for Americans, Obama told reporters that Gruber was just “some adviser who never worked on our staff.” The MIT e-mails show that Gruber got invited to consult Obama directly, making the President look like a liar on what would normally be a petty issue, had Gruber not repeatedly shot off his mouth in public about the strategies employed to deceive American voters.

The Gruber videos caught the attention of the public for two reasons. One, it showed the dishonesty of the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress over how this program was both sold and written. Two, Gruber’s arguments directly contradict what the Obama administration has represented in its arguments to the Supreme Court in King v Burwell. Politically, these e-mails are a disaster. Legally, they won’t mean anything at all. The court decided King weeks ago, if not months, and we’re only waiting for the decision and opinions to emerge.

Finally, why did Oversight have to go to MIT to get these e-mails? This should have been provided to Oversight from the White House. The sheer volume alone of these communications show that Gruber’s role was critical in the process of ObamaCare. To compare, recall that Hillary Clinton turned over what she said were the complete set of work-related e-mails from four years at the State Department — and that came up to 50,000 pages of communications. And no one believes that it comprises the complete set of e-mails, either, especially after Sidney Blumenthal’s subpoena found dozens that no one knew existed.

This pattern of hiding e-mails and some advisers wasn’t limited to the State Department, in other words. Looks like this may have been the Obama administration mantra:

CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gruber; obamacare; ocarenightmare; whitehouse

1 posted on 06/22/2015 7:05:45 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

“Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.


2 posted on 06/22/2015 7:11:52 AM PDT by ThomasMore (Islam is the Whore of Babylon!)
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To: SeekAndFind

Did he have any past connection to the Clintons? that would be a important thing to learn going forward. I sure hope he does have some past ties.


3 posted on 06/22/2015 7:12:50 AM PDT by ncfool (Can America wait til 2016? or will it be to late to save the USA?)
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To: ncfool

Well, Gruber did say in 2008 that he loved Hillary’s health care plan.....


4 posted on 06/22/2015 7:22:07 AM PDT by harwood (You don't wanna go there.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Nothing to see here - move along.
Nothing to be punished here - move along.
Who cares?
Old story!
At this point, what difference does it make?
Etc., etc., etc.


5 posted on 06/22/2015 7:33:41 AM PDT by I am Richard Brandon
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To: SeekAndFind

BTTT


6 posted on 06/22/2015 8:06:25 AM PDT by Balding_Eagle (Jonathan Gruber is proof that God is still smiling on Americans)
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To: SeekAndFind

Obama lied? That is unexpected.


7 posted on 06/22/2015 8:24:11 AM PDT by Pollster1 ("Shall not be infringed" is unambiguous.)
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To: I am Richard Brandon

It might be a hint about the SCOTUS ruling, bringing Gruber
back into the public eye right before they release it.


8 posted on 06/22/2015 8:43:35 AM PDT by txhurl
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To: SeekAndFind

Nothing surprises me with this criminal government of liars and traitors.


9 posted on 06/22/2015 9:31:28 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Pretty bad when a government of the people are habitual liars.


10 posted on 06/22/2015 10:00:55 AM PDT by servantboy777
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