I don't think they engaged Gruber to buy his advocacy. That was just a
bonus.
He and they should have made clear the contract, which is actually worse
than
MP notes, if it's true that it was with the White House, not with HHS.
But all things considered, I think this has been overblown. Gruber is not a
household word; his involvement doesn't move polling numbers, and he does
serious work.
The "things that they didn't try" refers to cost-cutting in the context
of the
overall scheme, which precluded single-payer.
If you think things suck now, watch if the Dems lose the MA senate seat.
It will make Clinton look like Che Guevara.
michael perelman wrote:
Apparently, the Obama folks are following the Bush precedent, paying
Johathan Gruber, a health care economist, under the table -- at least
he seems to have done nothing to let it be known -- to influence the
health care debate
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/01/08/gruber-did-not-disclose-conflict-to-the-wapo/
I posted two brief mentions about Jonathan Gruber and health care,
without realizing that he had a $392,600 contract with Health and
Human Services that had not yet been made public.
First, last November, I posted the following comment in response to a
New York Times article about Health Care, alluding to single payer
being "off the table.":
Jonathan Gruber is a health economist from MIT -- an expert, no doubt.
David Leonhardt quotes his favorable comment on the Senate health care
bill: “I can’t think of a thing to try that they didn’t try.”
Leonhardt, apparently, never bothered to ask him about single payer,
which was off the table.
more at:
http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/off-the-table-or-under-the-table-economics-vs-health-care/
_______________________________________________
pen-l mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
