Gruber: 'I was not the architect'

[mystery-ak]

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/226422-gruber-i-was-not-the-architect

By Sarah Ferris - 12/09/14 09:48 AM EST

Embattled healthcare consultant Jonathan Gruber says he "was not the architect" of ObamaCare in prepared testimony for the House Oversight Committee.

“I was not the architect of President Obama’s healthcare plan,” Gruber wrote in prepared remarks.

“I ran microsimulation models to help those in the state and federal executive and legislative branches better assess the likely outcomes of various policy choices.”


Gruber is squaring off Tuesday against Republicans who have been outraged by videos that show him talking about how “the stupidity of the American voter” helped the healthcare law pass.

He said that the “ongoing attention paid to these videos has made me realize that a fuller accounting is necessary.” 

Gruber will also reiterate the apology that he first delivered on MSNBC last month.

“It is never appropriate to try to make oneself seem more important or smart by demeaning others. I know better. I knew better. I am embarrassed and I am sorry.”

He also defends the healthcare law, which has taken a hit from the negative publicity generated by his comments.

"I behaved badly, and I will have to live with that, but my own inexcusable arrogance is not a flaw in the Affordable Care Act."
Gruber also reveals the payments he received under his contracts with the federal government, but only from the last two years.

He earned $134,198 from the National Institutes of Health during that time. It does not include the time he was a consultant for ObamaCare, services for which he reportedly received nearly $400,000. It also does not include his multiple contracts with states related to healthcare.

Republican members of the committee have vowed to thoroughly question Gruber about his pay from the federal government.

[mystery-ak]

http://dailycaller.com/2014/12/09/issa-to-gruber-are-you-stupid-video/
Issa to Gruber: ‘Are You Stupid?’ [VIDEO]

[truth_seeker]

Issa seems to be incapable of delivering knockout blows.

[mystery-ak]

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/226426-obama-official-forced-to-sit-next-to-gruber

Obama official forced to sit next to Gruber
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By Elise Viebeck - 12/09/14 10:03 AM EST
Controversial ObamaCare consultant Jonathan Gruber and a top federal health official were required to sit next to each other at a House hearing Tuesday despite pleas from the administration that the two remain separate.


The decision by House Republicans meant that Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner was questioned alongside Gruber, famous for his comment that the "stupidity of the American voter" contributed to ObamaCare's passage.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who led the hearing, explicitly denied the administration's request at the start of the event.

"We believe this is a perfect pairing, a pairing of individuals who are responsible for what we know and don’t know [about ObamaCare]," he said.

House Republicans were prepared to grill Gruber over his comments and Tavenner over the inflation of ObamaCare enrollment numbers. Tavenner called the miscount a mistake in her opening statement.

The Obama administration has taken pains to distance itself from Gruber since his comments were unearthed this fall. Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) specifically asked Issa not to seat Tavenner next to him.

"The accommodation of separate panels for government witnesses reflects important comity in congressional-executive relations," HHS Assistant Secretary for Legislation Jim Esquea wrote last week.

"The relatively few exceptions to this practice reinforce the seriousness of this accommodation."
A Democratic witness, an ObamaCare supporter, was also seated on the panel.