Gruber Lawyers Up Regarding How Much Money He Made From Governments Advising on ObamaCare

Sassy.

He repeatedly refuses to simply state how much he's made off advising on Obamcare, and repeatedly says he'll discuss it with his lawyer.

Speaking of lawyering up, his statement to the committee stinks of legal polish. He now claims that he was lying when he previously said he was lying and he's very, very sowwy for his "inappropriate" remarks.

I would like to begin by apologizing sincerely for the offending comments that I made. In some cases I made uninformed and glib comments about the political process behind health care reform. I am not an expert on politics and my tone implied that I was, which is wrong. In other cases I simply made insulting and mean comments that are totally uncalled for in any situation. I sincerely apologize both for conjecturing with a tone of expertise and for doing so in such a disparaging fashion. It is never appropriate to try to make oneself seem more important or smarter by demeaning others. I know better. I knew better. I am embarrassed, and I am sorry.

In addition to apologizing for my unacceptable remarks, I would like to clarify
some misconceptions about the content and context of my comments. Let me be very clear: I do not think that the Affordable Care Act was passed in a non-transparent fashion. The issues I raised in my comments, such as redistribution of risk through insurance market reform and the structure of the Cadillac tax, were roundly debated throughout 2009 and early 2010 before the law was passed. Reasonable people can disagree about the merits of these policies, but it is completely clear that these issues were debated thoroughly during the drafting and passage of the ACA.

I also would like to clarify some misperceptions about my January 2012 remarks
concerning the availability of tax credits in states that did not set up their own health
insurance exchanges. The portion of these remarks that has received so much attention lately omits a critical component of the context in which I was speaking. The point I believe I was making was about the possibility that the federal government, for whatever reason, might not create a federal exchange. If that were to occur, and only in that context, then the only way that states could guarantee that their citizens would receive tax credits would be to set up their own exchanges. I have a long-standing and well-documented belief that health care reform legislation in general, and the ACA in particular, must include mechanisms for
residents in all states to obtain tax credits....

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....

One Democrat I saw seemingly chided Gruber for not being excessively burdened by truthfulness, or words to that effect. That may be taken as the Dems "ripping" Gruber, but the Democrat I saw went on to claim that this was a moment for "redemption."

See, what they're claiming is that Gruber lied previously when he lied about lying. So they're castigating him for that alleged lie (about lying about Obamacare), but are saying he's "redeeming" himself by now saying he was lying before and is now telling the truth when he says Obamacare Is Awesome.

So don't believe these media accounts of Democrats "ripping" Gruber. They are tactically pretending to believe Gruber's new lies, in order to defend Obamacare.

posted by Ace at 12:24 PM

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