Don’t hold us to what we meant, scream democrats.
Jonathan Gruber is one of the creators of Obamacare. It turns out that the way the exchanges were designed were quite intentional:
Did Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber make the same mistake twice? A new audio clip finds him once again explaining that Obamacare subsidies are tied to state health exchanges.
A clip of Jonathan Gruber circulated last night in which he states that Obamacare subsidies are tied to the existence of state exchanges. This statement is extremely problematic for the law’s supporters because it appears to confirm the view of plaintiffs in the Halbig case, i.e. that only state-exchanges were intended to deliver subsidies.
This morning Gruber told the New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn that he doesn’t know why he said it at the time in 2012. “I was speaking off-the-cuff. It was just a mistake,” he claims. He added, “My subsequent statement was just a speak-o—you know, like a typo.” A typo is usually a simple slip of the finger on the keyboard, i.e. a misspelling or missed bit of punctuation. Gruber’s statement is nearly a minute long.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtnEmPXEpr0[/youtube]
It wasn’t the only time he insisted on it either:
Also, it turns out it was not the only time he made such a statement. An audio clip from a public appearance Gruber made at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco on January 10, 2012 reveals he made the same connection between subsidies and state-based exchanges on at least one other occasion (hat tip to MorgenR).
Obviously, Gruber can continue to claim he was wrong but it becomes harder to explain this as the equivalent of a typo when he said it more than once.
The design of the exchanges were meant to be coercion:
What’s important to remember politically about this is if you’re a state and you don’t set up an exchange, that means your citizens don’t get their tax credits— but your citizens still pay the taxes that support this bill. So you’re essentially saying [to] your citizens you’re going to pay all the taxes to help all the other states in the country. I hope that that’s a blatant enough political reality that states will get their act together and realize there are billions of dollars at stake here in setting up these exchanges. But, you know, once again the politics can get ugly around this.
There’s no mistake despite any current protests by Gruber.
The whiners at MSNBC make this argument:
Far more than Gruber’s remarks or the appearance of hypocrisy on the part of the justices, the main political question for the Supreme Court is whether it is willing to strip millions of people of their ability to purchase affordable health insurance.
That is the same as saying one something is stolen and is kept long enough it is no longer stolen. Then on to this utter nonsense:
Pointing to University of Texas law professor Josh Blackman, another legal analyst who made a similar observation, Hasen asked, “Is Roberts, and I would say, is Kennedy, going to be willing to deny health care subsidies to millions of people because of what Jon Stewart has called a typo?”
Firstly, Jon Stewart is hardly the nation’s foremost legal authority. Second, let me again harken back to the words of John Roberts:
“It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.”
democrats could have passed a law that seizes the assets of all conservatives and distributes them to illegal aliens, but that makes it neither right nor Constitutional.
Again, MSNBC:
Virtually all of the law’s supporters, from the lawmakers who voted for it it to the president who signed it, say that the subsidies were always meant to be available to federally run exchanges.
They had the chance to write it so it said exactly that. They didn’t. They wanted it to be a tool of coercion, of manipulation, of extortion, to punish red states.
It is written the way they meant it to be.
If people lose their subsidies, they can blame those who wrote this POS, not SCOTUS. The argument that the words of the Obamacare architect should carry no legal weight is utterly absurd.
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 40 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 45 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter who is in the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.
The consequences for the country, should Dems succeed on this, would be devastating.
“Should” and “must” and “will” each have very specific meanings, legally.
Not one of them means anything like ”might,” or ”may” or ”could.”
But, just to see ObamaCare win,” Dems are willing to change all of that.
The consequences will include never being held to the written word again.
We would have a new standard: not what we wrote, but what we thought we wrote.
It’s very difficult to imagine SCOTUS going along with this….any of them.
Bill Gates wrote in his work, The Road Ahead “What I’ve said that turned out to be right will be considered obvious, and what was wrong will be humorous.” Gates is a rich capitalist and a democrat at heart. He loves the fool and all that he has done for this country.
His offshore holdings are huge-so when the US hits the big flush, Billy is gone to another country.
Gates has feigned interest in helping other cultures and countries. Look deeper, it is all about the capital wealth that can be generated from these humanitarian efforts, either in investments or tax write-offs.
Dr. John – I wholeheartedly agree with everything you posted – as my comments yesterday on the other thread show.
What shouldn’t shock me – but frankly still does – is just how blatantly these leftists will lie about their past clear intent as they realize their position now endangers the whole socialist debacle. The nonchalance with which they flip – despite knowing we have video, audio and published writings from them expressly stating the exact opposite of what they are twisting to claim now – demonstrates their contemptible lack of integrity and the low opinion they have of the intelligence of their base.
The brazen dishonesty that is required to be a leftist just stuns me. I do not understand how anyone can possibly ascribe to a belief system that is based upon an existential lack of integrity. It really does seem to be a mental disorder.
Jonathan Gruber put the language in expecting only one outcome: blackmail would force all 50 states to accept setting up of state exchanges.
That didn’t work.
So now, Gruber wants a free do-over as to the meanings of his own words.
Bill Clinton started it: “It all depends on what the meaning of ”is” is.”
See, Gruber still wants the same outcome: subsidies for over 80% of those covered.
He will lie, cheat and steal to get that outcome…..potentially those are his Lefty, low-info voters.
What more could you ask for? Obama has promised a $2,500 savings on our health care premiums and he has announced a $2,450 cap on penalties if you refuse or can’t afford Obama Care. This is an individual savings of nearly $5,000 for buying into the Affordable Care scam. You can’t afford not to buy health insurance. It is a slam dunk and win/win proposition.
The democrats will ALL BLAME the GOP for their failure if the GOP manages to strike it down but if the GOP doesn’t strike it down then the democrats will BLAME the GOP for that.
Nanny G.
My pappy told me fifty years ago that the communists were the most honest people on the planet….why? because in their manifestos they said they would lie, cheat or steal to get their way.
In what way are most politicians of today any different?
the only speechs you hear are from OBAMA,
SO DON’T MIX THE GOPS IN THAT,
THEY ARE NOT TELLING ANY LIES, THEY ARE GETTING ELECTED AT THIS TIME, THOSE POLITICIAN ARE LEGIT,
THEY DON’T NEED TO LIE, THEY JUST TELL ABOUT TH LIES COMING FROM THE OPPOSIT SIDE,
@Pete: They lie like they breathe. They have no sense of honor, fair play, or respect for a loyal opposition. They know only their goals for which any tactic may be used. Their god is power and control becasue they know best and the rest of us must simply agree or be crushed. These are very scary Marxists.
@Nanny G: Should the Supreme Court go along with this the Republic is over. This is a huge moment in American history.
JON STEWART
WHY DON’T YOU SHUT UP, JUST CLOSE YOUR MOUTH THIGHT,
SO NO STUPIDITY COME OUT,
THAT WOULD BE FUNYER, and A GOOD LAUGH,
VoteOutIncumbents
that was brilliant , AND in a few words,
BYE
MOS #8541
WHY ARE THEY GOING AWAY,
we need all the brains here to get out of this deep hole,
that is a need which should be a priority, over any other country,
@Pete:
You would be surprised at how much dishonesty one can withstand for some free stuff.
@George:
And the corrupt MSM will happily oblige by supporting that lie.
Awefully telling what the FA Lefty trolls choose not to comment upon. Or, are they still waiting inline at the Medi-MJ dispensary?
ThunderGod
yes,
but they need their meds before coming here,
the only way to think for them,
BYE
Despite the Overton Window dressing of Michael Brown charging Officer Wilson, dying for his actions, and the subsequent manufactured racial grievance industry, an actual issue of importance is still out there -namely the continued negative consequences of the feculent stench of obamacare. College kids who thought they were being so cool to vote for a candidate based on media idol worship should have engaged in some actual critical thinking before voting for a marxist dimwit like Obama:
http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=5854
Mind you, this is not a report of “greedy capitalist corporations” as the left so falsely claims as the root of all evil – these are the leftwing bastions of academia that are cutting work hours for part-time student employees specifically to avoid the mandated costs for health insurance coverage due to obamacare for anyone considered a full-time employee.
Obamacare is – as we conservatives predicted it was – a totally unworkable, egregiously bad turd of corrupt lawmaking. It must be repealed in its entirety, and no amount of leftist propaganda caterwauling over “what about those who got insurance under obamacare” should ever stop us. Socialism never works. It is time to stop their economic madness.