Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The price of ignorance
Salisbury Post, North Carolina ^ | November 16, 2014 | M.H. Clements, Cleveland

Posted on 11/16/2014 1:36:57 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife

One of the chief architects of the Affordable Care Act, known popularly as Obamacare, has on at least three occasions referred to you and me as either stupid or ignorant. Jonathan Gruber, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has admitted (and even declared) that deceiving the American public, members of Congress and the Congressional Budget Office was necessary to pass the bill into law.

Videos of these have surfaced and have been played on Fox News and on CNN. They are easily found by entering his name into a search engine. He is absolutely correct about “ignorant”, and may be close to the truth about “stupid.”

Mr. Gruber describes the “tortured” language employed to accomplish the deception, and declares that the resulting legislation is so valuable as to justify the means employed. And all who suffer from pre-existing illness(es) might agree, for they are the true beneficiaries. However, all who believed that this administration would be the most transparent one in memory might just become a little cynical.

As to his reference to us as ignorant: There is an undeniable lack of teaching of the most basic principles of economics. How many understand that our economy is built on the foundation of a tangible product sold at market for a profit? Or that such profit is then taxed to provide the revenue for government programs? Or that when we are told that insurance companies will be taxed on elaborate programs, that the taxes will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums or higher deductibles?

As to his reference to us as stupid: Is it news that the protection of free speech afforded by the first amendment to our Constitution allows politicians to lie during campaigns? Or that if these same politicians are elected that they really laugh at those of us who voted for them? And should these same politicians be surprised to recognize cynicism among constituents?

There is a tradition in our history that news media make up the “fourth estate” to whom we have entrusted the responsibility to investigate and protect society from dishonest politicians. But who protects us when the revered fourth estate is hypnotized by politicians? If not for media efforts to vet individuals and proposed legislation, how are we to make informed decisions based on facts?

We now have irrefutable evidence that some members and close associates of our federal government are quite willing to deceive (defraud?) the electorate in order to achieve their political goals. They seem to justify their actions as being necessary for the good of the ignorant masses. Perhaps more telling is how society will deal with exposed deceit. We will have to wait and see.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: aca; california; defraud; governmentlies; jonathangruber; media; msm; nancypelosi; obamacare
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last
I see a growing number of OpEds and Letters to the Editor over the LIES of the Obama Administration.
1 posted on 11/16/2014 1:36:57 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: All
The lies that are central to Obama’s agenda "...........The brutal effects of the lies are still coming in. More and more Americans will see their premiums rise. More and more Americans will be tossed out of their current insurance. More and more Americans will become more and more angry about this.

And all of this to solve a problem that was as overhyped as “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.” In July 2009, six months into the Obama era, a Time magazine poll found that while there was widespread consternation with something called “the system” (i.e., what people were told about others, from news reports), 86% of Americans approved of their own personal health care.

Eighty-six percent! Abraham Lincoln wishes his approval ratings were that high. We’re talking about something that Americans liked at least as much as motherhood, the Grand Canyon and summer.

But it had to be completely redesigned, because there just wasn’t enough for the Jonathan Grubers and Jonathan Chaits of the world to do.

The reason liberals consistently mislead, or try to mislead, the public on their policies is that they don’t pass the common-sense test......"

2 posted on 11/16/2014 1:40:08 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

It’s time to start the pogroms. We may as well just get on with it. The target are liberals of every stripe. After all, they are trying to kill us and are way of life.


3 posted on 11/16/2014 1:53:10 AM PST by Bullish (A 5 year old could run the country better than Obama.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

4 posted on 11/16/2014 1:54:28 AM PST by clearcarbon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

The Dems have strategically placed their bought and paid for liberal cronies in most of the major media outlets. They have also hired many family members of these media hacks to work in Dem administration. Fox News, FR, Drudge, and a few other news outlets are the last bastions of hope to keep truth alive. When these fall, there is nothing left to get out the truth except the internet and Obama and his minions are hard at work to control that also.


5 posted on 11/16/2014 1:59:00 AM PST by ImNotLying
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

Any “law” that is designed to deceive is no law at all. RESIST. Do not participate. Do not pay the fine. Just as Prohibition disappeared by massive non-compliance, so too can this pass away.


6 posted on 11/16/2014 1:59:04 AM PST by NTHockey (Rules of engagement #1: Take no prisoners. And to the NSA trolls, FU)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife
At law, at gain via a deception or untrueful manipulation, is called a fraud.

This is cause for legal recourse, i.e., it is an actionable offense.

A Writ of Mandamus comes to mind, given the senility of the GOP leadership.

7 posted on 11/16/2014 2:01:15 AM PST by jamaksin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: jamaksin

Nothing can prevent the deception of people who wish to be deceived.


8 posted on 11/16/2014 2:17:59 AM PST by Jacquerie (Article V. If not now, when?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

In the best cons, pulled off by the best con artists, the mark never knows he was conned. This guy is busy bragging that he conned us.

I would like to see everybody associated with the ACA, those who voted for it and those who gave away contracts for software that never worked, to go to prison and make financial restitution from their ill-gotten gains.


9 posted on 11/16/2014 2:35:22 AM PST by Gen.Blather
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife; Allegra; big'ol_freeper; Lil'freeper; shove_it; TrueKnightGalahad; ...
Oh, hi! Come... on in--

You seem upset that I called American voters 'stupid'... right?

Okay, if the American voters are not 'stupid,' then how in hell... did they elect Obama President twice?

See, the proof is always... is in the pudding--

10 posted on 11/16/2014 3:04:39 AM PST by Bender2 ("I've got a twisted sense of humor, and everything amuses me." RAH Beyond this Horizon)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gen.Blather

Make full remittance with any future grants or research money allocated for MIT for any projects or programs. Follow it up with indictments for those who committed conspiracy to commit fraud.


11 posted on 11/16/2014 3:16:06 AM PST by blackdog (There is no such thing as healing, only a balance between destructive and constructive forces.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Bender2

Did you say "pudding" ?

12 posted on 11/16/2014 3:21:14 AM PST by fieldmarshaldj (Resist We Much)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

One of the chief architects of the Affordable Care Act, known popularly as Obamacare, has on at least three occasions referred to you and me as either stupid or ignorant.

No, not everyone. Only those who believed it and supported it. A lot of us were not fooled, not from the start.


13 posted on 11/16/2014 3:30:14 AM PST by CPONav
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gen.Blather

David Horowitz, June 2000: “...........The first truth about leftist missionaries, about believing progressives, is that they are liars. But they are not liars in the ordinary way, which is to say by choice. They are liars by necessity—often without even realizing that they are. Because they also lie to themselves. It is the political lie that gives their cause its life.

Why, for example, if you were one of them, would you tell the truth? If you were serious about your role in humanity’s vanguard, if you had the knowledge (which others did not), that you were certain would lead them to a better world, why would you tell them a truth that they could not “understand” and that would hold them back?

If others could understand your truth, you would not think of yourself as a “vanguard.” You would no longer inhabit the morally charmed world of an elite, whose members alone can see the light and whose mission is to lead the unenlightened towards it. If everybody could see the promised horizon and knew the path to reach it, the future would already have happened and there would be no need for the vanguard of the saints.

That is both the ethical core and psychological heart of what it means to be a part of the left. That is where the gratification comes from. To see yourself as a social redeemer. To feel anointed. In other words: To be progressive is itself the most satisfying narcissism.

That is why it is of little concern to them that their socialist schemes have run aground, burying millions of human beings in their wake. That is why they don’t care that their panaceas have caused more human suffering than all the injustices they have ever challenged. That is why they never learn from their “mistakes.” That is why the continuance of Them is more important than any truth.

If you were active in the so-called “peace” movement or in the radical wing of the civil rights causes, why would you tell the truth? Why would you tell people that no, you weren’t really a “peace activist,” except in the sense that you were against America’s war. Why would you draw attention to the fact that while you called yourselves “peace activists,” you didn’t oppose the Communists’ war, and were gratified when America’s enemies won?

What you were really against was not war at all, but American “imperialism” and American capitalism. What you truly hated was America’s democracy, which you knew to be a “sham” because it was controlled by money in the end. That’s why you wanted to “Bring the Troops Home,” as your slogan said. Because if America’s troops came home, America would lose and the Communists would win. And the progressive future would be one step closer...........”

http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=24376


14 posted on 11/16/2014 3:34:10 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife
That Mr. Gruber referenced the electorate as "stupid", it seems to me, is not at issue. It is substantially true that much of the electorate is ignorant of the issues and arguments which consume much of discussion of the chattering class in Washington D.C. What is more concerning is the fact that Obama made a conscious choice to be non-transparent and lie to the public, even counting on the degree of success on those consciously fabricated lies, lest they have to tell the truth and never push through a bill (Obamacare) which would never have seen the light of day. I suppose Obama conscripted John Roberts in depending on the ignorance of the public to solidify the courts support for "what the people voted for" (according to Roberts). So, what can we learn from this revelation by Mr. Gruber. You cannot believe anything Obama says. You cannot trust the Roberts court to interpret the letter of the law as the Constitution demands, but we now know Roberts is a political hack who is blown about by every wind of lie which comes from the bowels of the Obama administration.

It might be something to entertain that the "stupid" public may be so busy trying to make a living, pay bills, above all, pay taxes, raise children, take care of elderly......basically make the country work......that they do not have time or inclination to keep up with the prevarications which emanates from Obama and his lying minions. As to whether Roberts is redeemable,.....we will see. He has unzipped his fly and so far we can rightly conclude that he is not 'judicious' but is a political creature....perhaps made by Obama via blackmail (some have asserted). We will see.

15 posted on 11/16/2014 3:35:04 AM PST by Texas Songwriter (w)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

Ever since you sent me that link I’ve read and retread that piece. Each time learning something new.


16 posted on 11/16/2014 3:52:49 AM PST by DainBramage
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife
"who protects us when the revered fourth estate is hypnotized by politicians?"

It's hard for me to determine which is worse: a hypnotized fourth estate, or a fourth estate is as stupid as Gruber believes. I think it is the latter.

In discussions with fellow conservatives the subject of the cause of such a liberal press comes up. Many cannot understand how the mainstream press has become so liberal. It has now dawned on me. Maybe they are simply stupid.

17 posted on 11/16/2014 4:42:14 AM PST by norwaypinesavage (The Stone Age did not end because we ran out of stones)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Texas Songwriter

I appreciate the candor of Gruber; I thought many American voters were stupid when voting for Obama twice, and six years later feel quite vindicated.

It is still practically illegal to criticize our token negro “president”, but I am sure his popularity is much lower than reported. The Dems have intimidated people enough Stalin-style that nobody is going to be honest with pollsters.


18 posted on 11/16/2014 5:01:06 AM PST by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

The American People should form a tribunal and put these liars in front of it and mete out justice. This law has destroyed lives.


19 posted on 11/16/2014 6:12:36 AM PST by johnnygeneric (tribunal)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bender2; Impy; fieldmarshaldj; NFHale; sickoflibs; Perdogg; KC_Lion; Clintonfatigued

He’s just another Cambridge located, educated idiot, slut.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/opinion/op_ed/2014/11/krauthammer_mit_prof_s_obamacare_confession

That city’s FULL of sh*theads like this doof; another reason I avoid it like the plague.


20 posted on 11/16/2014 6:59:29 AM PST by GOPsterinMA (I'm with Steve McQueen: I live my life for myself and answer to nobody.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson