Posted on 11/18/2014 2:07:18 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
President Obama said in 2006 that he had stolen ideas "liberally" from the professor under fire for saying voter “stupidity” aided ObamaCare’s passage.
Video unearthed by the conservative Washington Free Beacon Monday showed Obama praising Jonathan Gruber and other liberal policy experts as some of the "brightest minds" in academia.
"Many of them I have stolen ideas from liberally, people ranging from [economist] Robert Gordon to [economist] Austan Goolsbee [to] Jon Gruber," Obama said in the clip.
Gruber is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology whose past criticism of voters has gone viral in the last week. He served as a consultant during the passage of the healthcare law and its counterpart in the Bay State under former Gov. Mitt Romney (R).
The Obama administration and congressional Democrats are trying to distance themselves from Gruber as more videos emerge.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said Monday that she was "extremely offended" by his comments, and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said last week she doesn't know "who he is."
The latest video was filmed at an event held by the Brookings Institution in 2006 to mark the launch of a policy initiative known as the Hamilton Project.
"I know that there are going to be wonderful ideas that are generated as a consequence of this project," Obama said.
The president pushed back hard on Gruber's comments over the weekend, arguing that each provision of ObamaCare was debated openly.
"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 told reporters at a news conference following the G-20 summit in Brisbane, Australia.
"We had a year-long debate,” Obama said. “Go look back at your stories. The one thing we can’t say is that we did not have a lengthy debate about healthcare in the United States of America, or that it was not adequately covered. Every press outlet here, go back and pull up every clip, every story. And I think it’s fair to say there was not a provision in the healthcare law that was not extensively debated and was fully transparent.”
Gruber's disclosure that he was being paid by the White House (2nd page).
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Two earlier FR threads on this news.
Obama Flashback: ‘I’ve Stolen Ideas’ From Jonathan Gruber ‘Liberally’
I think it's fair to say that Obama is extensively and fully incapable of ever telling the truth.
Rush pointed out that the public should now realize that EVERYTHING this man utters is a lie — that he is out to hurt us and the country.
And Rep. Trey Gowdy cautioned that any legislation called “comprehensive” should be killed.
ping!
“Obama: “The fact that an adviser who was never on our staff ... ....”
Absolutely a dopey response by Odunga. Why would Gruber take a small potato’s 170k a year staff Gubermint job when he could bilk 6 million over just a couple of years from various Gubermint entities as a contractor.
Well of course he did. How else would he have stolen them?
I hope Rush runs with this topic. The Liar In Chief must be exposed for what he is. Rush is the one to do it. Some legacy you’re gonna have President Osama.
Obamas description of gruber as “ some guy not on outlet staff” reminds me of his some guy in the neighborhood” description of Bill Ayers
Otherwise, Obama insisted, Ayers was a paragon of virtue: a respectable fixture in mainstream Chicago, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, on a foundation board focused on education that included "Republicans, bankers, lawyers." Ayers had even worked for, and was a good friend of, Mayor Richard M. Daley. The Obama campaign at once launched a crusade to distance Obama from Ayers. It went so far as to actually defend the man who had implicated himself in terror bombings in his own 2001 memoir, Fugitive Days.
In fact, Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, were radical Marxist revolutionaries in the Vietnam War era. They were founders of the Weather Underground, a violent terrorist arm of Students for a Democratic Society. Both were eventually indicted in federal court, and Dohrn by the State of Illinois. Rather than face a trial they jumped bail and disappeared into the underground in 1970. After they resurfaced 11 years later, both were admitted into the halls of academia. Ayers became a Distinguished Professor of Education and a Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Incredibly, Dohrn became a law professor at Northwestern......"
“...never on our staff...” — lawyerly slick parsing, but nowhere near as god as Der Schlickmeister could do.
What a liar.
I remember back then mentioning that bipartisanship was inherently ANTIDEBATE.
He never wanted a debate on it. The stuff was ram rodded and he even threatened supreme court dissenters.
I never had sexual relations with that professor. Not once, not ever.
Yes, there was a debate---but it was orchestrated by one voice---Jonathan Gruber.
<><> (1) WH sign-in sheets show Gruber went there at least nineteen times.
<><>(2) Gruber, himself, talked about Obama being in the room when the Cadillac tax was invented.
<><> (3) Based on his Obamacare experiences, Gruber took tax dollars from several states to set up Obamacare exchanges....and earned millions of dollars doing so.
<><>(4) Nancy Pelosi is caught on-tape citing Gruber as a reliable source.
<><> (5) Gruber was there when Hillarycare was developed.
<><>(6) Another Gruber confession involved a conspiracy w/ Teddy Kennedy---using govt fraud to manipulate Medicare for some $500 million----to secretly finance Romneycare.
<><>(7) A former adviser to then-HHS Secy Kathleen Sebelius told the NYT Gruber was on-board whie the govt was formulating the plan.
<><> (8) According BarackObama.com 2012, President Obama's official website, Jon Gruber "helped write Obamacare....w/ specific quotes from Obama tying Mitt Romney to ObamaCare...saying that "RomneyCare" was the model for Obamacare.
<><> (9) The Congressional Budget Office Effectively Used Gruber’s Model to Score Obamacare.
It's next to impossible to overestimate Gruber's role. Gruber was central to the efforts of Obama, and his lock-stepping Democratic allies, to shove the Progressive poison of Obamacare down the throats of an unwilling citizenry.
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One can only imagine the derision and deprecation of Americans in the halls of Congress, and in the WH, as Gruber reprised his "stupid Americans" act to an appreciative audience of lock-stepping Democrats.
Gruber took his "stupid Americans" act nationwide---paid millions of tax dollars to peddle his Progressive poison allover our country.
QUOTING OBAMA: "No. 1, let me just repeat, if you’ve got a health care plan that you like, you can keep it. All I’m going to do is help you to lower the premiums on it. You’ll still have choice of doctor.”
Repeated over and over by every loyal Democrat---- conning Americans into believing they'd also be saving $2500.00 on healthcare costs.
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LOCK-STEPPING DEMOCRAT PARTY LOYALTY NOT SEEN SINCE 1930-40's ERA EUROPE.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-Nev.): “In fact, one of our core principles is that if you like the health care you have, you can keep it.” (Sen. Reid, Congressional Record, S.8642, 8/3/09)
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN: “We believe — and we stand by this — if you like your current health insurance plan, you will be able to keep it, plain and simple, straightforward.” (Sen. Durbin, Congressional Record, S.6401, 6/10/09)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): “If you like your insurance, you keep it.” (U.S. Senate, Finance Committee, Bill Mark-Up, 9/29/09)
SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D-Wash.): “Again, if you like what you have, you will be able to keep it. Let me say this again: If you like what you have, when our legislation is passed and signed by the President, you will be able to keep it.” (Sen. Murray, Congressional Record, S.6400, 6/10/09)
SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D-Mont.): “That is why one of the central promises of health care reform has been and is: If you like what you have, you can keep it. That is critically important. If a person has a plan, and he or she likes it, he or she can keep it.” (Sen. Baucus, Congressional Record, S.7676, 9/29/10)
SEN. TOM HARKIN (D-Iowa): “One of the things we put in the health care bill when we designed it was the protection for consumers to keep the plan they have if they like it; thus, the term ‘grandfathered plans.’ If you have a plan you like — existing policies — you can keep them. … we said, if you like a plan, you get to keep it, and you can grandfather it in.” (Sen. Harkin, Congressional Record, S.7675-6, 9/29/10)
THEN-REP. TAMMY BALDWIN (D-Wis.): “Under the bill, if you like the insurance you have now, you may keep it and it will improve.” (Rep. Baldwin, Press Release, 3/18/10)
SEN. MARK BEGICH (D-Alaska): “If you got a doctor now, you got a medical professional you want, you get to keep that. If you have an insurance program or a health care policy you want of ideas, make sure you keep it. That you can keep who you want.” (Sen. Begich, Townhall Event, 7/27/09)
SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D-Colo.): “We should begin with a basic principle: if you have coverage and you like it, you can keep it. If you have your doctor, and you like him or her, you should be able to keep them as well. We will not take that choice away from you.” (Sen. Bennet, Press Release, 6/11/09)
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D-Calif.): “So we Democrats want people to be able to keep the health care they have. And the answer to that is choice of plans. And in the exchange, we’re going to have lots of different plans, and people will be able to keep the health care coverage they need and they want.” (Sen. Boxer, Press Release, 2/8/11)
SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-Ohio): “Our Democrat bill says if you have health insurance and you like it, you can keep it…”(Sen. Brown, Congressional Record, S.12612, 12/7/09)
SEN. BEN CARDIN (D-Md.): “For the people of Maryland, this bill will provide a rational way in which they can maintain their existing coverage…” (Sen. Cardin, Congressional Record, S.13798, 12/23/09)
SEN. BOB CASEY (D-Pa.): “I also believe this Democrat legislation and the bill we are going to send to President Obama this fall will also have secure choices. If you like what you have, you like the plan you have, you can keep it. It is not going to change.” (Sen. Casey, Congressional Record, S.8070, 7/24/09)
SEN. KAY HAGAN (D-N.C.): ‘People who have insurance they’re happy with can keep it’ “We need to support the private insurance industry so that people who have insurance they’re happy with can keep it while also providing a backstop option for people without access to affordable coverage.” (“Republicans Vent As Other Compromise Plans Get Aired,” National Journal’s Congress Daily, 6/18/09)
SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D-La.): “If you like the insurance that you have, you’ll be able to keep it.” (MSNBC’s Hardball, 12/16/09)
SEN. PAT LEAHY (D-Vt.): “[I]f you like the insurance you now have, keep the insurance you have.” (CNN’s “Newsroom,” 10/22/09)
SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D-N.J.): “If you like what you have, you get to keep it” “Menendez is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which is expected to release a bill later this week. He stressed that consumers who are satisfied with their plans won’t have to change. ‘If you like what you have, you get to keep it,’ he said.” (“Health Care Plan Would Help N.J., Menendez Says,” The Record, 6/19/09)
SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-Oreg.): “[E]nsuring that those who like their insurance get to keep it” “The HELP Committee bill sets forward a historic Democrat plan that will, for the first time in American history, give every American access to affordable health coverage, reduce costs, and increase choice, while ensuring that those who like their insurance get to keep it.” (Sen. Merkley, Press Release, 7/15/09)
SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI (D-Md.): “It means that if you like the insurance you have now, you can keep it.” (Sen. Mikulski, Press Release, 12/24/09)
SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D-W.Va.): “I want people to know, the President’s promise that if you like the coverage you have today you can keep it is a pledge we intend to keep.” (U.S. Senate, Finance Committee, Hearing, 9/23/09)
SEN. JACK REED (D-R.I.): “If you like the insurance you have, you can choose to keep it.” (Sen. Reed, Town Hall Event, 6/25/09)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.): “‘If you have coverage you like, you can keep it,’ says Sen. Sanders.” (“Sick And Wrong,” Rolling Stone, 4/5/10)
SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-N.H.): ‘if you have health coverage that you like, you get to keep it’ “My understanding … is that … if you have health coverage that you like you can keep it. As I said, you may have missed my remarks at the beginning of the call, but one of the things I that I said as a requirement that I have for supporting a Democrat bill is that if you have health coverage that you like you should be able to keep that. …under every scenario that I’ve seen, if you have health coverage that you like, you get to keep it.” (Sen. Shaheen, “Health Care Questions From Across New Hampshire,” Accessed 11/13/13)
SEN. DEBBIE STABENOW (D-Mich.): “As someone who has a large number of large employers in my state, one of the things I appreciate about the Democrat chairman’s remark is — is the grandfathering provisions, the fact that the people in my state, 60 percent of whom have insurance, are going to be able to keep it. And Mr. Chairman, I appreciate that. That’s a strong commitment. It’s clear in the bill … I appreciate the strong commitment on your part and the president to make sure that if you have your insurance you can keep it. That’s the bottom line for me.” (U.S. Senate, Finance Committee, Bill Mark-Up, 9/24/09)
SEN. JON TESTER (D-Mont.): “‘If you like your coverage, you’ll be able to keep it,’ Tester said, adding that if Medicare changes, it will only become stronger”. (“Tester In Baker To Discuss Health Care,” The Fallon County Times, 11/20/09)
SEN. TOM UDALL (D-N.Mex.): “Some worried reform would alter their current coverage. It won’t. If you like your current plan, you can keep it.” (“What I Learned: About Health Care Reform This Summer, By Your Lawmakers In Congress,” Albuquerque Journal, 9/8/09)
SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-R.I.): “..it honors President Obama’s programs and the promise of all of the Presidential candidates that if you like the plan you have, you get to keep it. You are not forced out of anything.” (Sen. Whitehouse, Congressional Record, S.8668, 8/3/09)
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) the 60th vote on Obamacare: "people who are happy with their current plan, wouldn't need to change it."
FRANKEN YOUTUBE SOUND BITE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCZmAYYNz8Ihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCZmAYYNz8I
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CUE THE SCHADENFREUD METER Twenty-nine Democrats who voted for Obamacare (soon to include Landrieu) were ousted in the midterm Democrat Demolition Derby.
I think "go back and look at the stories" actually is a dog whistle for "scrub your websites of anything incriminating".
Good comparison.
Obama is a liar bump.
Yeah, the so-called “comprehensive” immigration bill is said to be some 2000 pages. God knows what nasty stuff is hidden deep inside that pile of paper.
The Pelosi Doctrine would have to apply to this one too.
Hannity played an audio tape yesterday of Pelosi encouraging everyone to look at gruber’s cost breakdown on obamacare...
This one is my favorite-King Barry The Bold promising that the cost to employers who provide health care coverage would drop by “as much as 3,000%” so they could give out raises like candy at Halloween...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jGJgpEh0pk
The money quote comes in the first 15 seconds of the video.
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