Charles Krauthammer Hits Perfect Note

A local newpaper recently ran an instructive column by Charles Krauthammer together with Lisa Benson’s wonderful cartoon on the breaking story of Jonathan Gruber, the talkative MIT economist and his connection with the Affordable Care Act. Professor Gruber was hired as a consultant by the Department of Health and Human Services to assist the Senate committee that was writing the ACA. He was paid $390,000 by HHS and was considered by many as the primary resource for financial inputs. Professor Gruber’s propensity to talk has now revealed at least five videos in which he outlines on numerous occasions that the bill was intentionally written to obfuscate and minimize transparency so that “the stupidity of the American voter” would not notice, otherwise it would not have passed.

Professor Gruber’s constant affirmation that the part of the law that specifically states that subsidies can be given only to insurance purchased on exchanges established by the state was intentionally written in order to attract the states to set up their own exchanges. Only 13 states did so. In violation of that law, the Obama administration is now providing tax credits to those who purchased insurance from one of the federal exchanges serving the other 37 states.

There is now a challenge to Obama’s unilateral action, which will be heard this spring by the Supreme Court, as Benson’s cartoon correctly points out.

The stupid American voter should be ever grateful to Professor Gruber and his forthrightness for making the case for the plaintiffs. He has teed up the ball for the Supreme Court to knock it out of the park ... along with Obamacare!