Fortunately, most Americans would rather have repeal than not.
Obamacare Architect on ‘the Stupidity of the American Voter’ | The Weekly Standard
Jeffrey H. Anderson November 10, 2014
Jonathan Gruber, a key architect of Obamacare (and also of Romneycare), has been caught on camera by the Daily Signal offering up insights on the “stupidity of the American voter” and on the importance of using a noble lie (or lies) in passing Obamacare.
Gruber said of Obamacare:
“This bill was written in a tortured way to make sure CBO did not score the [individual] mandate as taxes. If CBO scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies.”
President Obama publicly insisted the individual mandate was not a tax, and Obamacare’s own text describes it as a “penalty,” not a “tax.” Yet, by a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court held that the mandate was unconstitutional as a penalty levied under the commerce-clause power and could stand only as a tax — albeit a previously unheard-of tax that compels Americans to buy a product or service of the federal government’s choosing in order to avoid having to pay it. It’s an unprecedented federal tax on inactivity.
Unsurprisingly, the individual mandate remains perhaps the most unpopular part of Obamacare, and it’s also central to its entire design. Thus, delaying or repealing the mandate would badly wound Obamacare. One hopes that Republicans on Capitol Hill will soon pass legislation to do exactly that, while also passing legislation to end Obamacare’s bailout of insurance companies. Republicans would be much better off going after these parts of Obamacare — which are central to its design and its ability to function — rather than trying to make Obamacare better by doing things like repealing its medical-device tax or changing its definition of full-time workers from 30 to 40 hours a week. Republicans should be in the businesses of providing relief to Americans in ways that undermine Obamacare, not improve it.
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