As great as it was to see Trey Gowdy rip into Jonathan Gruber, I believe the “angry” Democrats that grilled him as well are rubbing their hands with glee under the table. The whole point of Gowdy’s questioning seemed to be to humiliate Gruber for calling Americans stupid. That’s fine with me, although they might as well scream at me, too, because I think half the country is stupid as well (you voted for Obama – twice?).
The real line of questioning was ignored, at least from what I saw. What someone should have said was: You, Mr. Gruber, were the key consultant for the administration in designing and getting the ACA passed. So this attitude of yours about the stupidity of the American voter, how exactly did that factor into the various ways in which the ACA was ultimately passed? You mentioned the need to play on the ignorance of the public in order to pass the bill. Is that why it ultimately passed – because the Democrats were successful in playing America for fools, as you suggested? You mentioned that the ignorant voters would never support a new tax, so it should be labeled a fee or penalty. Does this mean that the law was purposely never intended to be a tax?
I have not watched the entire proceedings, because I “work.” But the Republicans are making a huge mistake if they are using these hearings to simply berate Jonathan Gruber for being a meanie!
Rob Lipsky
