Health care law adviser’s comments on videos energize opposition

WASHINGTON – Newly surfaced videos are adding fresh energy to the efforts of congressional conservatives to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law, feeding into their contentions that the overhaul was approved through a scheme of deception.

Some are calling anew for hearings on the law, which is about to begin its second year of coverage for millions of Americans. And activists are telling lawmakers to make good on their talk of scrapping the law or face defeat in the next elections.

The videos show MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, an adviser in the law’s drafting, saying that “the stupidity of the American voter” helped Democrats pass the complex legislation.

“The Gruber clip has caught fire,” says David Bozell, whose ForAmerica group campaigns against the health care law online.

In one video, Gruber describes what he depicts as the behind-the-scenes political strategy of the law’s supporters. At a 2013 University of Pennsylvania public forum, he says Americans’ lack of understanding helped Democrats pass the legislation.

Other impolitic statements have continued to dribble out in which Gruber claims that the law was written to deceive federal budget watchdogs and mocks conservatives’ concerns over health care policy.

He has since disavowed the most controversial remarks, saying he “spoke inappropriately and I regret having made those comments.”

Republicans, who made big gains during last week’s midterm congressional elections, have stood unified against the law they deride as “Obamacare,” and they now point to Gruber’s comments as yet another reason to dump it. They say the remarks show a cynical strategy by Democrats to camouflage the law’s politically unpalatable aspects and sneak them past an unsuspecting public.

Gruber was a paid outside consultant, hired to crunch numbers as the legislation was developed. Ironically, he was brought on board because of expertise he acquired in helping Republican Gov. Mitt Romney set up a health care expansion in Massachusetts. That plan became the basis for Obama’s law.

Many Republicans contend there was a lack of transparency when the legislation was being put together. However, according to Democratic tallies, House lawmakers spent almost 100 hours and the Senate more than 160 in public hearings and debate on the measures, much of it televised on C-SPAN.