“Nice article from Huff/Puff” 2011 directed from Mr. Gruber to Mitt Romney. (selected quotes with link)
Jonathan Gruber, an M.I.T. economist hired by Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to help craft health care reform, sharply criticized the Republican presidential candidate for distinguishing between his bill and President Barack Obama’s in an interview with Capital New York published Wednesday.
“They’re the same f***ing bill. He [Romney] just can’t have his cake and eat it too,” Gruber said. “He can try to draw distinctions and stuff, but he’s just lying. The only big difference is he didn’t have to pay for his. Because the federal government paid for it. Where at the federal level, we have to pay for it, so we have to raise taxes.”
More from Huff/Puff article linked above
Gruber is a Democrat, and told The New Yorker that Romney never asked him about his political views. He also recalled that Romney argued for the individual mandate since it would eliminate the “free rider” problem of uninsured patients seeking care at emergency rooms. The White House also contacted Gruber to do the economic modeling for Obama’s plan.
In the interview with Capital New York, Gruber also expressed frustration that the Supreme Court might decide the fate of health care on “political grounds.” “It’s very disturbing,” he said.