Baldo

Nov 13 2014, 10:21 PM

Unbelievable

EDITORIAL: Jonathan Gruber’s payday

Taxpayers paid millions for the deceptions of the Obamacare architect

The MIT economist who is the brains behind Obamacare has made quite a stir with his admission that President Obama’s health care takeover was built on lies. Mr. Gruber says he was willing to say and do whatever it took to advance the scheme, and now it’s clear why. Obamacare made Mr. Gruber a multimillionaire, and at the expense of the taxpayers.

Video of Mr. Gruber’s remarks, delivered at a University of Pennsylvania health care conference last year, has surfaced in which he explained how the details of Obamacare were kept under wraps until the measure was rammed through the Democratic Congress with no opportunity for anyone to read the legislation. “Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage,” Mr. Gruber said. “Call it the stupidity of the American voter, or whatever. But basically, that was really, really critical to getting the thing to pass.”

Those “stupid” people have been extremely generous to Mr. Gruber. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2010 investigated the $297,600 that the Department of Health and Human Services paid Mr. Gruber to sing the praises of the health care scheme. Congress — or part of Congress — was concerned that this payoff violated a federal law against paid government propaganda, but the GAO said it wasn’t a violation because Mr. Gruber had written his propaganda on his own time. Officially, he was paid only to “analyze various health care reform proposals and identify cost and coverage implications.”....snipped

But it gets worse as that is only the tip of the Iceberg!

...This is an extraordinarily lucrative enterprise in the age of Obamacare that Mr. Gruber himself brought about. Individual states have lavished taxpayer cash on Mr. Gruber in return for cookie-cutter reports that describe the impact of Obamacare for each of the several states.

Minnesota, for example, used federal Obamacare grants to pay Mr. Gruber to attend one meeting, participate in a biweekly email list and print a copy of the report, all for $329,000. Wisconsin paid Mr. Gruber $400,000 for the same material, requested by the office of then-Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat. When the report was presented, Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, didn’t want Mr. Gruber at the news conference. Vermont is paying him another $400,000. Such a deal!

West Virginia, Maine, Colorado and Oregon have partaken of Mr. Gruber’s services, too, guaranteeing him a tidy sum. The money bought lies and deception. That’s Mr. Gruber’s characterization, not ours. “If you had a law which made it explicit that healthy people are going to pay in and sick people get money,” said Mr. Gruber, “it would not have passed.”...snipped

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/13/editorial-jonathan-grubers-payday/

Where did that money from the states come from? Obama-care grants.

Pretty slick trick on the American People. Call them stupid, lie to them, then collect millions.

No wonder he is such a slick smirking elite



I hope the Republicans in the Senate & House have the balls to call him before hearings under oath and question him about what he did & what did he tell Obama.

• 
  
• The Jonathan Gruber Controversy and Washington's Dirty Little Secret
  New York Times-14 minutes ago
  That would be Jonathan Gruber, an M.I.T. health economist who helped design the Massachusetts health reforms on which Obamacare was ...
  
  
• Pelosi on Gruber: 'I don't know who he is'
  The Hill-42 minutes ago
  
  
• Arrogance plus deception equals Obamacare. Ask Gruber.
  Opinion-Chicago Tribune-2 hours ago
  
  
• New Obamacare furor: Was Jonathan Gruber the architect
  In-Depth-Politico-14 hours ago
  
  
• VIDEO: Jonathan Gruber says Obama knew 'the American public ...
  Blog-Washington Post (blog)-2 hours ago
  
  
• The guy who thinks voters are 'stupid' Obamacare creator: Voters ...
  Opinion-CNN-15 hours ago
  
  
• The Gruber Confession
  Washington Post-14 hours ago
  First, Gruber said, the bill's authors manipulated the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which issues gold-standard cost estimates of ...
  
  
• Gruber Is Also Wrong On Policy
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  MIT economist Jonathan Gruber is in the news again with his comments about how the drafters of ObamaCare used Americans' ignorance ...

Baldo

Nov 14 2014, 12:14 AM

This Democrat Is Giving Up on ObamaCare

The disastrous rollout of the Affordable Care Act was the catalyst for my party’s midterm thumping.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/burke-beu-this-democrat-is-giving-up-on-obamacare-1415919619

Quote:

 

I grew up in a Democratic family. I have been a registered Democrat since age 18, a Democratic candidate for statewide office in Colorado and a party precinct captain in that caucus state. I’ve volunteered for numerous Democratic candidates and contributed to party causes and campaigns. The 2014 election results were extremely disappointing for me, but hardly a surprise.

I voted for Barack Obama in 2008, then lost my job in the Great Recession. I was lucky; my brother lost his job and his house. I survived on part-time jobs while paying out-of-pocket for my health insurance.

I voted for President Obama again in 2012, then received a cancellation notice for my health insurance. This was due to ObamaCare, the so-called Affordable Care Act. However, I couldn’t afford anything else.

Midterm elections in the second term of a presidency are difficult on the president’s party, and the Obama administration’s crisis-of-the-month headlines weren’t helpful. Ultimately, though, ObamaCare was the catalyst for my party’s midterm thumping.

ObamaCare is a failure. For anyone who thinks this is a misprint because no Democratic activist would make such a comment, let me add that it is too big, too complicated and too expensive. Without a public option within its network of exchanges, ObamaCare is a giant blank check to the insurance companies that pushed it through Congress. It punishes responsible consumers like me and treats younger individuals as fools who are expected to pay the bills while not paying attention.

Now we learn in videos that came to light this week that Jonathan Gruber, MIT economist and a key architect of the Affordable Care Act, proudly relied on his perceived “stupidity of the American voter” as the basis for designing ObamaCare. Such comments, along with the program’s notoriously dysfunctional website and false assurances that people can keep their previous health plans, are insults to every citizen regardless of party.

Contrary to Medicare, which was quickly accepted at a time of economic vitality as a meaningful complement to Social Security, ObamaCare was the sequel to an overpriced economic stimulus package that didn’t stimulate very much. Those least affected by the recession benefited the most from the stimulus. I think that’s called “trickle-down economics” when Republicans do it, and the economy continues to struggle for good jobs and a real recovery. ObamaCare is part of the problem, not a solution.

For most Democrats in Congress, Medicare was originally a model for health-care reform. Single-payer, universal coverage was the favored approach. Then Republicans let loose the “socialized medicine” boogeyman and Democrats panicked.

Fearful that doing nothing was worse than doing the wrong thing, Democrats gave up on Medicare for the masses and opted for a drastic alternative. ObamaCare is an outrageous combination of private-market inflation, government bureaucracy, excessive mandates and a ridiculously delayed implementation schedule. When the thing finally kicked in, it hit hard—and there is plenty more pain on the way.

Worst of all, ObamaCare looks and feels exactly like what it is: a health-care plan devised by lawyers and corporate executives rather than true health-care providers. Democrats are top-heavy with attorneys, and this hurts the party on many issues.

If Hillary Clinton is looking for an immediate opportunity to distance herself from the Obama administration, she should promise to appoint a licensed health-care professional, such as a physician or registered nurse, as her secretary of Health and Human Services if she is elected president. I know she hasn’t announced her candidacy, but the time has come to stop playing coy.

We Democrats need to get over ourselves, start anew on a national health-care policy, and return to our progressive principles. We claim to be the party of the underdogs, but on ObamaCare we simply catered to a different set of fat cats.

We resent Republicans who act morally superior and pretend to have a monopoly on patriotism, but an elitist attitude doesn’t look any better on us when we refuse to admit that ObamaCare is broken beyond repair. Measurable outcomes and actual effectiveness are the honest indicators of a successful program, not good intentions or high hopes.

We say that we are the party of the people, but “the people” too often become a singular, monolithic concept for us. We speak for the people, don’t you know, because we can decide what is best for them so they really don’t need to speak for themselves.

The people decided otherwise on Election Day. I hope my party is listening. When the next Congress convenes in 2015, Democrats need to work with the new Republican majority, repeal ObamaCare, override a presidential veto if necessary, and start from scratch on health-care reform.

Mr. Beu, a nonprofit professional and former hospital insurance coordinator, currently works as a counselor at a social-services agency in Denver.

Baldo

Nov 14 2014, 11:54 AM

Fifth Video Emerges, Showing Gruber Mocking Man Worried About Obamacare

snip

Quote:

 

http://kaiserhealthnews.org/news/millions-of-medicaid-kids-missing-regular-checkups/

Millions Of Medicaid Kids Missing Regular Checkups

[...]

(A) ...The report, released Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG), says the administration has boosted rates of participation but needs to do more to ensure that children get the regular wellness exams, dental checkups and vision and hearing tests. The report notes that 63 percent of children on Medicaid received at least one medical screening in 2013, up from 56 percent in 2006, but still far below the department’s 80 percent goal.

(B) ...Child health advocates cite several factors for the low rates, including a shortage of doctors treating Medicaid patients, states’ low pay for providers and parents’ lack of awareness about the importance of the visits.

Both children and taxpayers pay a steep price when children’s health problems are not caught early.

(C) ...Some experts say that state officials — not the federal government— bear most of the responsibility for low screening rates because they administer Medicaid, the state-federal program for the poor. They say states need to step up oversight over the private Medicaid health plans that many contract with to cover children in the program.

“The federal government is working hard on this, but the only power they have over states is to take away their funding and that is highly unlikely,” said Jane Perkins, legal director of the National Health Law Program.

[...]

MikeZPU

Nov 14 2014, 11:34 AM

Baldo

Nov 12 2014, 11:27 PM

The White House sought Wednesday to distance itself from Gruber and his comments.

“The Affordable Care Act was publicly debated over the course of 14 months, with dozens of Congressional hearings, and countless town halls, speeches, and debates,” White House spokeswoman Jessica Santillo said in a statement. “The tax credits in the law that help millions of middle class Americans afford coverage were no secret, and in fact were central to the legislation. Not only do we disagree with [Gruber’s] comments, they’re simply not true.”

This preposterous lie is just more evidence that Obama and his cronies
think the American voters are stupid.

Quote:

 

Born in a Broken System - Baby dies after mom doesn't get care

Quote:

 

She also blames open enrollment for the Affordable Health Care and new Medicaid rules.

Quote:

 

Also, it should be noted that 25 percent of the applications received from healthcare.gov were duplicate applications. Additionally, only 9 percent of the processed applications have been eligible and approved for Medicaid. The remainder (91 percent) were denied, withdrawn or transferred.

LTC8K6

Nov 14 2014, 03:47 PM

Some interesting tid bits in this awful story...

http://abc11.com/health/i-team-baby-dies-after-mom-doesnt-get-care/392367/

Quote:

 

Born in a Broken System - Baby dies after mom doesn't get care

Quote:

 

She also blames open enrollment for the Affordable Health Care and new Medicaid rules.

Quote:

 

Also, it should be noted that 25 percent of the applications received from healthcare.gov were duplicate applications. Additionally, only 9 percent of the processed applications have been eligible and approved for Medicaid. The remainder (91 percent) were denied, withdrawn or transferred.

MikeZPU

Nov 14 2014, 11:18 AM

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/11/13/3-things-white-house-doesnt-want-to-know-about-obamacare-plus-3-things-coming/

Goo article about all the lies about Obamacare being told by the White House.

ObamaCare architect and MIT professor Jonathan Gruber’s remarks about the "stupidity" of the American voter and the passage of ObamaCare is bad enough. What is even more disturbing are his comments about the bill’s deliberate lack of transparency. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest’s denials Thursday were also absurd.

The arrogance and condescension that has too often characterized the Obama administration’s policies have put the American public in the unfortunate position of having to learn about the health care changes the hard way, on their own.

Here are three crucial changes that the president clearly didn’t want you to know about:

1. HUGE DEFICITS AND NEW TAXES. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the latest projections for the net cost of ObamaCare over the next ten years are just over $1.4 trillion. Whereas President Obama promised in 2009 that it would cost less than $1 trillion over ten years. In order to partially pay for this, ObamaCare has added more than 20 new taxes totaling over $500 billion.
[Obama, like Gruber, twisted the data when he told us. In addition to an outright lie on the actual costs, he told you about a program that would start collecting some taxes immediately (2010) and would not start paying out until the fourth year (2014). The actual cost is impossible to estimate now, as the CBO told us. Even the costs told of here came with taxes being collected for 10 years and costs for only 9 years. Of course if fewer sign up, the deficit is reduced, as the taxes just keep on running!]

2. BUREAUCRACY. Speaking of Orwellian politics, ObamaCare includes 159 new boards and agencies to restrict and govern your health care choices.

3. STILL MORE BUREAUCRACY. Dysfunctional state exchanges with high deductible policies, narrow doctor networks, including federally-run exchanges in 36 states which may not be allowable under the law (SCOTUS currently considering this case).
[That would be "high deductible" AND out-of-pocket. The exchanges can legally run under the law, but the tax credit subsidies they give out is the question at SCOTUS.]

Here are three new things coming up in 2015 that you aren’t going to like:

1. PENALTIES WILL RISE – INDIVIDUAL MANDATE. In 2014, people are facing a penalty of $95 per person or 1% of income.

In 2015, the penalty will more than triple to $325 per person or 2% of income, whichever is higher.

If an American failed to get coverage this year, the penalty will be taken out of their tax refund in early 2015.

2. SERIOUS RATE HIKES FOR CHEAPER OBAMACARE PLANS. According to Investor’s Business Daily, the lowest cost bronze plan will increase an average of 7 % in many cases, the lowest cost silver plan by 9%, and the lowest priced catastrophic policy will climb 18 percent on average. Double digit rate hikes are anticipated in several southern and Midwestern states including Kansas, Iowa, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Iowa, and Virginia.

Subsidies will continue to be a huge part of the program. In 2014, subsidies provided ¾ of the premiums for the federally-run exchanges.

3. EMPLOYER MANDATE WILL TAKE EFFECT. After being delayed for a year, large businesses (100 or more employees in 2015, 50 or more in 2016) will be required to offer affordable (and subsidized) health plans to at least 70 percent of their full time employees or face a $2,000-$3,000 penalty per employee.

This mandate will lead to fewer full time employees being hired.

The latest Kaiser Family Foundation poll in July revealed that 53 percent of those surveyed had an unfavorable view of ObamaCare.

I expect this number to rise as more of ObamaCare’s “bells and whistles” are rolled out. Americans are experiencing ObamaCare as a cancer of the health care system. -- The more it grows, the more it infiltrates and destroys healthy tissue [and our economy.].


Dr. Marc Siegel, a practicing internist, joined FOX News Channel (FNC) as a contributor in 2008.

Baldo

Nov 14 2014, 04:38 PM

new GOP Ad on the Grubering of America

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1-6mcg9_J8


I think we need to start a campaign like we did on Liestoppersw to turn Nifong into a verb.

How about some suggestions for "Grubering" or "to Gruber"