Economist Jonathan Gruber, one of the architects of Obamacare, admitted in 2012 that state-run health insurance exchanges were not supposed to receive subsidies:
This is a big deal in light of the D.C. Circuit Court’s recent ruling in Halbig.
Last night, MSNBC host Chris Hayes demanded to know if any legislators expressed Gruber’s view at the time the law was debated:
The ACA was the most debated and discussed piece of legislation in a generation. Find me a legislator saying what Gruber said. Go.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 25, 2014
The absence of any such statement, he implies, would prove that legislators could not have intended to deny subsidies to state-run exchanges.
That would be a perfectly reasonable argument if legislators had actually read and understood the bill. Of course, most did not.
https://twitter.com/ThisIsJoshSmith/status/492522072766050304
Reply to @chrislhayes It wasn't debated/discussed until after it was shoved down our throats by Pelosi & Reid. Not one Republican voted Yes.
— SheLooksJustLikeYouJohn (@AsilisArt) July 25, 2014
https://twitter.com/TheRealBepo/status/492522643946745857
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.@chrislhayes How many legislators knew even 10% of what Gruber – the so-called architect – did about the law?
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) July 25, 2014
@DeeMFGee @chrislhayes Sitting senators who voted for this bill had no idea what was in it a yr after it had passed. http://t.co/1ponqh1g7C
— David Freddoso (@freddoso) July 25, 2014
https://twitter.com/JimRoton/status/492526297319370753
Even Max Baucus, one of the bill’s lead authors, admits he never bothered to read the whole thing.
https://twitter.com/KevinWGlass/status/492646970767712256
https://twitter.com/KevinWGlass/status/492616915345350656
And here’s a challenge for Chris Hayes:
@chrislhayes Find me a contemporaneous statement by Dem contradicting Grubers interpretation. Go.
— Kevin Hooks (@hookey12) July 25, 2014
Yes.