Posted on 11/17/2014 1:42:23 AM PST by OneLoyalAmerican
The epic search of the Greek philosopher Diogenes for an honest man is finally over. His name is Jonathan Gruber, and he is an MIT economist once known as an intellectual architect of Obamacare, although his status is being rapidly downgraded by the law’s supporters with every one of his uncomfortably frank utterances about President Barack Obama’s signature initiative.
Video surfaced of Gruber saying at a panel discussion at the University of Pennsylvania last year that the law was written in a deceptive, nontransparent way to exploit “the stupidity of the American voter.”
Gruber swiftly went on MSNBC to explain that his comments should be discounted because he was speaking “off the cuff.” Then two other videos surfaced of him saying much the same thing at different venues. Calling the American public stupid appears to have been one of Gruber’s favorite rhetorical tropes. At one of his appearances, his audience can be heard laughing appreciatively.
H. L. Mencken famously wrote that no one has “ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.” Or, Gruber might add, ever failed to pass major social legislation by doing the same.
His impolitic remarks now have some Obama supporters suggesting that Gruber — one of the most influential health-care wonks in the country, who was integral to crafting the Massachusetts precursor to Obamacare and then Obamacare itself — is just some random, poorly spoken guy.
This denies Gruber his due. He has done us all a favor by affording us an unvarnished look into the progressive mind, which values complexity over simplicity, favors indirect taxes and impositions on the American public so their costs can be hidden, and has a dim view of the average American.
Complexity is a staple of liberal policymaking. It is a product of its scale and reach, but also of the imperative to hide the ball. Taxing and spending and redistributive schemes tend to be unpopular, so clever ways have to be found to deny that they are happening. This is what Gruber was getting at. One reason Obamacare was so convoluted is that its supporters didn’t want to straightforwardly admit how much the law was raising taxes and using the young and healthy to subsidize everyone else.
Gruber crowed about the exertions undertaken to make an unpopular tax on expensive health-insurance plans, the so-called Cadillac tax, more palatable. It was levied on employers instead of employees. No one realized, Gruber explained, that the tax would be functionally the same even if not directly imposed on workers. This wasn’t a one-off deception. This kind of sleight of hand is crucial to the progressive project, which always involves imposing taxes, regulations, and mandates at one remove from the average person so he or she won’t realize that the costs are passed down regardless.
Most liberals would never come out and call Americans stupid in a public forum, as Gruber did. But the debate between conservatives and liberals on health-care policy and much else comes down to how much average Americans can be trusted to make decisions on their own without the guiding, correcting hand of government. An assumption that Americans are incompetent is woven into the Left’s worldview. It is reluctant to entrust individuals with free choice for fear they will exercise it poorly and irresponsibly.
So Gruber deserves to be listened to, even if he ultimately got it wrong. The public is smarter than he and other Obamacare supporters give it credit for. It has never believed the magical, deliberately deceptive promises about Obamacare, or supported the law that continues to be a drag on the Democratic party.
Rather than congratulating themselves on their cleverness, the law’s architects might better reflect on how, even with crushing majorities in the House and the Senate, they had to lie and obfuscate to get Obamacare passed. That is damning commentary, not on the American public, but on their misbegotten handiwork.
I heard the New Brown Panther Party just placed a 50 Cent
bounty on his nail clippings.
Heh. Diogenes found his (brutally) honest person in Gruber, who reveals what liberals really think. Transparency despite himself.
Michelle called their stupid people....knuckleheads.
I wonder what the condescending elitist Gruber (or his employer) pays for health insurance and what it covers?
This wasn't written by Gruber, but it should have been.
Gruber pays NOTHING for his health insurance and believe me, he’s NOT on Obamacare!!!
iS THAT REALLY his book?
save for later
I wonder if Gruber even realizes, say, when he is watching a WWII era movie that HE is one of those bad guys?
Absolutely. You can get it on Amazon.com. I’ve checked.
Lying schicklgruber, the arrogant architect of totalitariancare (forced). National socialists unite to impose it on the republic.
The core philosophy of the Libtards: “If you can’t DAZZLE them with BRILLIANCE, then BAFFLE them with BULLSHIT”.
*******
Are there other "Grubers" out there?
That is, are there other ObamaCare "architects" out there who are bragging all over the place how they tricked "stupid" American voters into accepting ObamaCare as written?
I hope that there are computer experts out there who can find some forgotten or hidden videos that show us that there are other "advisers" besides Gruber who helped Obama and his staff lie to the American public about how wonderful ObamaCare is.
Click one of Nanzi's pictures to donate today.
We need your help to keep the lights on.
FR is funded solely by contributions made by
liberty loving people who enjoy and use it.
Every donation counts no matter how big or small.
If you can donate $5, $10, $20, $100 or more,
it would be greatly appreciated.
Greetings TalBlack:
Probably much like Progressive Upton Sinclair’s realization that critical facts contradict the storyline of his upcoming best seller, Boston. Sinclair eventually rationalizes preservation of what he sees as the upcoming American socialist revolution is far more important than telling the truth about Progressives.
Cheers,
OLA
They believe that because they are incompetent. They can't imagine that that's not a universal trait.
ALL of CONGRESS and their Staff is EXEMPT from Obamacare, AFAIK.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.