The Stupid Ones, Per MIT

For John, BLUF:  Washington is such a cesspool.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Because it is important I am just quoting the whole thing from Law Professor and Blogger Ann Althouse:

MIT prof Jonathan Gruber is sorry he was transparent about the lack of transparency in getting Obamacare passed.

He wants us to know that he was speaking at an academic conference and "off the cuff," when he said:

This bill was written in a tortured way to make sure CBO did not score the mandate as taxes.  If [Congressional Budget Office] scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies.  Okay, so it’s written to do that.  In terms of risk-rated subsidies, if you had a law which said that healthy people are going to pay in -– you made explicit that healthy people pay in and sick people get money — it would not have passed… Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage.  And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter, or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical for the thing to pass.  And it’s the second-best argument.  Look, I wish Mark was right that we could make it all transparent, but I’d rather have this law than not.

He wants his old lack of transparency back. He revealed what he liked so much about it.  Now, why can't he have it back?  Well, Professor Gruber, it just doesn't work that way.  Once you've let us see that you mean to deceive us, we won't get fooled again.  Oh... unless you're right, and we really are stupid.

Yes, apparently amongst the Professors at MIT the ends justify the means.  How disappointing.  Sort of like Professor Martin Heidegger.

Many Comments.  Here is one:

Mr MIT from Boston actually just admitted the Dem Congresspersons that voted for an unread bill were the stupid ones, and the Tea Party uprising that he distains as uneducated, racist, right wingers was 100% right when it understood the bill from the gitgo and rebelled.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff