Posted on November 18, 2014
Earnest: 'Old' Gruber Videos 'Are Not Views That Are Shared By Anybody At The White House'
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JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS: Just one other subject. The videos of Jonathan Gruber have now become almost a hit series, I guess there's seven of them out now, variously talking about the stupidity of the American voter, of the ways that, you know, the process of passing the health care law, of the ways in which people were duped as to what was actually going on. I'm wondering what your reaction to this. Obviously, he was a very important figure in the crafting of the health care law, so what is your view of what he's had to say? JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE: Well, I think the president, you know, when he answered a question on this at the news conference in Brisbane over the weekend was pretty clear about the fact that the sentiments that were expressed by Dr. Gruber are not sentiments that the president agrees with and, frankly, don't actually reflect what actually happened in the process of passing and implementing this law. You know, the fact of the matter is I do think that people are understandably pretty tired of relitigating all of the political fights from 2009 and 2010 as it relates to the Affordable Care Act, and there are some Republicans, however, who do seek to sort of fan the flames of those old political arguments because they think it is politically advantageous for them to do so. My suspicion is that they do so because it's easier to talk about six- and eight-year-old videos than it is to talk about how smoothly the opening of the second open enrollment period has gone so far or to talk about the millions of people that have gotten health care as a result of the Affordable Care Act or to talk about how the growth in health care costs is the lowest in recorded history, again, in the aftermath of the passing of the Affordable Care Act. You know, the Affordable Care Act guarantees a bunch of patient protections including that people can't be discriminated against because of a pre-existing position. All that stuff is pretty inconvenient for people who opposed the law to talk about, so it's easier the talk about these kinds of videos. They are certainly welcome to do that but I don't think there's a particularly large audience of the American people that's eager to have this discussion. KARL: But you would acknowledge he was an important figure in crafting this law? EARNEST: I think the president acknowledged in the news conference that he did over the weekend when, I believe, Ed ask about this, that Mr. Gruber was an adviser. KARL: Would he be welcome to more government contracts, he's made more than $2 million from the federal government, $400,000 specifically regarding the health care law, and, you know, of course, a lot more money from the states as well. Is kind of persona non grata, no more government contracts for Jonathan Gruber? EARNEST: Well, I assume that those kinds of decisions are made on based on merit. But, certainly, the comments that he has now famously expressed are not views that are shared by anybody at the White House.
Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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