The latest video to emerge of Jonathan Gruber boasting about his exploits suggests President Obama may have been party to the effort to disguise a tax on individuals that was passed as part of the Affordable Care Act.
In the latest video, Gruber says the during a discussion in 2009 on cost savings for Obamacare, Obama said it was politically impossible to tax people’s health insurance benefits, which unlike payroll income, are not taxed. Getting around this problem was a topic Obama was “just very interested in,” Gruber said.
The discussion, Gruber said, “became the genesis of what is called the Cadillac tax,” a new Obamacare tax on the most generous health plans.
The cute part of this is that, with traditional fully insured plans, it’s the insurer who pays the new Cadillac tax, not the employer or the beneficiary. But, Gruber acknowledged in another video that this is a de facto tax, because the insurer simply raises premiums to cover the cost, which therefore trickles down – pardon the expression – to the beneficiary. This, he said, was a “very clever, basic exploitation of the lack of economic understanding of the American voter.”
Here’s the latest from Gruber, in which he indicates Obama may have been in on the scheme:
Now, the problem is, it’s a political nightmare, … and people say, “No, you can’t tax my benefits.” So what we did a lot in that room was talk about, well, how could we make this work? And Obama was like, “Well, you know” — I mean, he is really a realistic guy. He is like, “Look, I can’t just do this.” He said: “It is just not going to happen politically. The bill will not pass. How do we manage to get there through phases and other things?” And we talked about it. And he was just very interested in that topic.
Once again, that ultimately became the genesis of what is called the Cadillac tax in the health care bill, which I think is one of the most important and bravest parts of the health care law and doesn’t get nearly enough credit.
H/T to Jim Hoft at The Gateway Pundit.
31 thoughts on “New Gruber Video Suggests Obama was in on Tax Deception”
I’m glad they haven’t found a cure for foot in mouth disease for jerks like this. Pompous jerk that is.
Gruber the Goober.
This is beyond pompous. Who’s REALLY stupid. Mr Gruber?
Some of the best smoking-gun video since the Zeke Emmanuel interview.
The “Cadillac” tax is the single most important source of all the significant benefit reductions that are occurring in the private sector today as employers are reducing coverage now to mitigate the cost impact of this looming tax. This tax is being “paid” by employees by shifting costs via higher deductibles, copayments, and other out-of-pocket expenses.
As to the public sector…hold on to your hats…the union strangleholds of the police, fire, and teacher contracts prevent municipal employers from adjusting benefits in any meaningful way. The Cadillac tax will be paid by municipalities and then passed off to homeowners through real estate taxes.
My town’s Cadillac tax projection for 2018 is $6M, or about 2% of their $300M budget. And you know what we get for that $6M? A big fat nothing. And it is projected to increase fast in subsequent years.
For those that don’t know what the tax is, it is 40% of the annual cost over $10,500 for a Single and $27,200 for a Family. And it is not tax deductible by the employer.
Our local (non-union) public safety departments had a very nice insurance package that was very reasonably priced for the city and it’s employees. The cities pay scale isn’t very good but the benefits have always offset the pay scale nicely.
The Cadillac tax caused the city to dump the existing coverage and replace it with selections that left the employees with $10k deductibles etc.
Welcome to the collective my friends…
Civil disobedience is all we have at our disposal right now. When the people rise up against this federal government, ‘he’ declares martial law. Civil disobedience then becomes Civil War. We’re in for an interesting next 2 years.
Look at this, sweaty, bug-eyed True Believer. Smarmy as a toad eating flies, loathsome as a crypt keeper. This is a guy who would have joyfully designed a better Iron Maiden murder coffin for the Carthaginians; all they had to do was to ask him.
And pay him $400k…
Indeed.
Nathan Thurm incarnate.
http://youtu.be/98MNisZJyFI
Perfect. Remember the bit where Nathan Thurm was a lawyer for a company that made dangerous toys? Classic.
Love Martin Short! He’s just published his memoirs, titled
“I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend.” Steve Martin has apparently bought several copies for Christmas gifts. Hmmm…there’s an idea.
I didn’t know about that book. Ordering it now! Thanks.
And the Democrats are running, Earnest is blaming the republicans. And Wikipedia says:
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
In 2009–10 Gruber served as a technical consultant to the Obama Administration and worked with both the administration and Congress to help craft the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often referred to as the ACA or “Obamacare”. The act was signed into law in March 2010, and Gruber has been described as an “architect”, “writer”, and “consultant” of the legislation. He was widely interviewed and quoted during the roll-out of the legislation.
I know it’s not the most reliable site, but I wonder how long that will stay on wiki?
And Princess Nancy now can”t remember him!! Although at her age (and I speak from, what’s the word I’m looking for? Oh yeah, experience) she may ACTUALLY have forgotten that he played an integral part in creating the bill that had to passed so we could know what was in it. Cripes. When I read their own words, HOW IN THE ECH EE DOUBLE TOOTHPICKS did this piece of “legislation” (unashamed dictionary: legislation; an act contrary to the public good, generally, a disguised (sometimes ingeniously, sometimes not so much) effort to benefit supporters of those passing or enacting the bill. Synonym for feces.) EVER get passed? We should have gathered our pitchforks and torches and marched on the castle. BEFORE Homeland Security bought those 1 BILLION hollow point bullets!!
Not a surprise. The surprise is that Obama was actually at the meeting.
The truth is coming out because he is a lame duck and the Dems lost…so I guess Roberts was right when he ruled it is a tax…
Roberts obviously had to know it was a tax. The question I have is when did he know it?
I would like to know that also!
gruber better watch his back, might be a very nasty accident in his future.
From your keyboard to karma’s inbox!
Check Lois Lerner’s secret stash of future incriminating emails.
It must take a large storage truck to store them. Oh to be a dust
mite in there fun reading:-)
Karma’s inbox–like that.
“Once again, that ultimately became the genesis of what is called the Cadillac tax in the health care bill, which I think is one of the most important and bravest parts of the health care law and doesn’t get nearly enough credit.”
Let me see if I’ve got this straight. Deceiving the American public (and I can NOT disagree they are stupid) “is one of the most important and BRAVEST parts of the health care law.” WHAT IN THE HELL IS HE TALKING ABOUT. The French Resistance deceived the Nazis. THAT was brave! This Milquetoast needs to be taken out and horsewhipped. THEN let him pontificate on bravery!!! Too much education is a terrible thing to behold!!!!!
Evil!
In spades!!!!
Oh crap, I just realized Eric Holder will consider my comment racist!! Just what I need, the DOJ up my butt!! (TSA’s already BEEN there, maybe they could give me an “All Clear”??).
Suggests, nothing. He says that the President was in the room during the discussions.
It’s all here in one of Gruber’s scholarly publications. This is why Gruber was hired to write the ACA. Let’s see, wealth redistribution, insurance as an entitlement, individual mandate, social engineering for implementation, “crowd-out” (elimination?) of insurance companies, single payer system is implied, advice to politicians on the resistance they will encounter, etc. Great big dichotomy between what Obama promised and what Gruber set forth in the position paper below.
http://www.nber.org/papers/w13758.pdf
This, he said, was a “very clever, basic exploitation of the lack of economic understanding of the American voter.”
Americans know there is no free lunch, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true… And if this is true and Obama thought he could gouge money out of the Cadillac plans, he must have also known he would exempt his union buds who have those. Bad show all around. And hasn’t Grubber had his 15 mins yet?
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