The american voter is demonstrably stupid, so they were right on that at least, if not the particular usage for it.
Infracted
Last edited by Kasierith; 2014-11-15 at 05:18 AM.
If someone wanted to pass a bill that stated "we're going to have healthy people pay into a system that pays out to sick people", like Gruber said, it wouldn't pass. And that's the entire definition of the damn insurance industry. The difference is, it would somehow get spun as Socialism / communism. I'm willing to be when the Social Security act passed, they didn't explain it as "we're gonna have young able bodied people pay a percentage of their income into a system so that old retired people can get paychecks".
The irony that people are so against political correctness are skewering this guy for not being politically correct but being completely honest...is funny.
Lots of legislation that gets passed through our system is disguised, and that's true for both parties, for a long time.
First off: obamacare is not just some random piece of legislation. It is far more important than the typical bill that gets passed. Lumping it in with every other random bill is a complete waste of your breath.
Second: Obamacare would have passed if they had been open and honest about it. The majority of American people would support paying a little bit more to help millions of people who work, but cant quite afford good health care.
Damage control: http://reason.com/blog/2014/11/13/na...nt-know-who-jo
When Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was asked today for comment about MIT professor Jonathan Gruber's recent remarks that "lack of transparency" and "the stupidity of the American voter" were critical to helping pass Obamacare, she responded briskly: "I don't know who he is. He didn't help write our bill."
Did Gruber help write the Affordable Care Act? According to a 2012 article in The New York Times, he did: After Mr. Gruber helped the administration put together the basic principles of the proposal, the White House lent him to Capitol Hill to help Congressional staff members draft the specifics of the legislation.
As for whether Pelosi's claim to not know who he is, well, she knew who he was November of 2009, and said so at a press conference. The Washington Post dug up a transcript of Pelosi citing Gruber's work by name in support of Obamacare. Here's the relevant section:
"I don't know if you have seen Jonathan Gruber of MIT's analysis of what the comparison is to the status quo versus what will happen in our bill for those who seek insurance within the exchange."
In addition, Pelosi's office touted Gruber's analysis of the law's premiums on the House Speaker's website. For that matter, so did the White House. There's just no question that Gruber was closely involved with the creation of the law, and widely cited as an authority on how it would work.
There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." - Isaac Asimov
Folly and fakery have always been with us... but it has never before been as dangerous as it is now, never in history have we been able to afford it less. - Isaac Asimov
Every damn thing you do in this life, you pay for. - Edith Piaf
The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. - Orwell
No amount of belief makes something a fact. - James Randi
You want to discuss some major spin? How about the phrase "featured prominently," or "Obamacare architect."
This guy wasn't the architect nor the face of Obamacare. He had a hand in writing the bill. As did several hundred/thousand people. Pelosi is trying to distance herself from him, lying in the process...shocker. I just don't understand the hoopla over this. Anyone that wanted to know what was in the bill was perfectly capable of doing so. #benghzigate #irsScandal
Eat yo vegetables
We even had a several hundred page thread on the issue at the time.
I'm sure that opponents of the bill who told people about death panels, socialized care, rationing care, nuclear option, ramming the bill through and long lines for treatment, thought the American voter was brilliant. Blame the guy for stating what rhetoric on both sides relies on... Voters who would vote yes on a bill that CBO calls a mandate, but would oppose the same identical bill if it was called a tax, are basing their support on semantics, which is stupid.
Folly and fakery have always been with us... but it has never before been as dangerous as it is now, never in history have we been able to afford it less. - Isaac Asimov
Every damn thing you do in this life, you pay for. - Edith Piaf
The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. - Orwell
No amount of belief makes something a fact. - James Randi
Considering that Congress has passed most taxes through as "mandates" or some other garbage they make up, it's not new to realize that they intentionally manipulate the citizens through avoiding buzzwords and the like.
Print money? Nahhh. Quantitative easing!
There is a reason why the bill received more support when called ACA, than when called Obamacare. It had a lot less to do with the administration lying, as much as the opposition...
- - - Updated - - -
Hinging support on changing the name, but not content, makes one stupid... See marriage debate as another example...
Folly and fakery have always been with us... but it has never before been as dangerous as it is now, never in history have we been able to afford it less. - Isaac Asimov
Every damn thing you do in this life, you pay for. - Edith Piaf
The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. - Orwell
No amount of belief makes something a fact. - James Randi
yes, the stupidity of American voters to not vote in their own best interest.
lets get rid of the military, medicaid, and the government because they all cost taxes too... `Murica!
Let's call taxes "chocolates" and all problems in this country would be solved...
http://youtu.be/0MW44jsYi0g
But lots of new chocolates for everyone!
Last edited by Felya; 2014-11-14 at 04:05 PM.
Folly and fakery have always been with us... but it has never before been as dangerous as it is now, never in history have we been able to afford it less. - Isaac Asimov
Every damn thing you do in this life, you pay for. - Edith Piaf
The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. - Orwell
No amount of belief makes something a fact. - James Randi
Folly and fakery have always been with us... but it has never before been as dangerous as it is now, never in history have we been able to afford it less. - Isaac Asimov
Every damn thing you do in this life, you pay for. - Edith Piaf
The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. - Orwell
No amount of belief makes something a fact. - James Randi