Jonathan Gruber — the now-famous Obamacare architect who credited the bill’s passage to the “stupidity” of the American people — heads into a congressional hearing on Tuesday against a backdrop of one of his most shocking claims: that the president outright lied to the American people about his health care reform.
In a San Francisco podcast appearance in January 2012, Mr. Gruber said he wished President Obama could have admitted that he didn’t know how Obamacare would impact Americans’ health care costs — but that he couldn’t, because of political suicide, The Daily Caller reported.
His words back then: “I wish that President Obama could have stood up and said, ’You know, I don’t know if this bill is going to control costs. It might, it might not. We’re doing our best. But let me tell you what it’s going to do.’ “
Mr. Gruber then explains that some Americans could actually die without the insurance, The Daily Caller said.
He then continues: “If [the president] could make that speech? Instead, he says, ’I’m going to pass a bill that will lower your health care costs.’ That sells. Now I wish the world was different. I wish people cared about the 50 million uninsured in America … but you know, they don’t. And I think, once again, I’m amazed politically that we got this bill through. I mean, we actually asked many politicians to vote against their self-interest. Against what their constituents were telling them, to really do the right thing. And I think they deserve our support and applause for doing that,” The Daily Caller reported.
Mr. Gruber is due to appear before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to discuss some of his statements about the passage of Obamacare.
SEE ALSO: Jonathan Gruber to face hostile House panel, tea party ‘I’m with Stupid’ T-shirts
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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