Gruber said what we already know: The Administration intentionally deceived the American public
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Click HERE for the full video of Congressman Turner’s questioning at today’s OGR hearing
Gretchen Carlson: We’re going to talk to a congressman who was in that hearing today as Gruber dodged all kinds of questions, including whether Obamacare is actually a tax and how crafty he said the administration was to sell it to the American people.
Gruber: That was an inexcusable term--
Congressman Turner: I'm not asking you about how you believe whether or not you should have said that or not. It's a factual statement you're making. Did anybody in the Administration ever have that conversation with you?
Gruber: I do not recall them using the word tortured, no.
Gretchen Carlson: That's Ohio congressman Michael Turner. He is going to join me coming up next.
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Gretchen Carlson: Time for some real talk now about Jonathan Gruber. We've heard the advisor boasting about deception used to hide the true nature of the health care law, including taxes. Our next guest, Ohio Congressman Mike Turner, pinning him down.
Congressman Turner: Do you know what a tax is? You do have, you know, expertise in economics. Do you know what a tax is?
Jonathan Gruber: Yes.
Congressman Turner: Okay. So you would not deny today that in these statements that you made that Obamacare is a tax, would you?
Jonathan Gruber: Obamacare is a large piece of legislation with many parts, and --
Congressman Turner: Is one of those parts a tax, Mr. Gruber?
Jonathan Gruber: There are some taxes in Obamacare, yes.
Gretchen Carlson: Mike Turner, a republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Why is it so tough to get people to just answer the questions plain and simple? Did you get a satisfactory answer about the tax from Jonathan Gruber?
Congressman Turner: Not really. What Jonathan Gruber is saying which we all now know and suspected that the administration intentionally deceived the American public. We saw this when the president was arguing it wasn't a tax. He said this was a tax, and we didn't tell the American voter, the American public, because it would have been objectionable and we drafted the legislation so we could avoid a CBO scoring, and the thing that he wouldn't tell us is, okay, who told you that? Who did you sit with in the administration and who had that discussion with you about how they would set about deceiving the American public? Certainly it's objectionable.
Gretchen Carlson: That is incredibly important piece of information. Listen to this.
Congressman Turner: Did they have the conversation with you that it had to be drafted in a way that the CBO did not score the individual mandated taxes? Anyone in the administration acknowledge it, explain it, or assign aspects to you within that construct? You are under oath.
Jonathan Gruber: I honestly do not recall.
Gretchen Carlson: Wow. That's convenient to say people don't recall, right? What do you think?
Congressman Turner: Well, I think he does recall, and that's why we caught him in casual conversation and at conferences on tape openly saying he was part of the deception, that the Obama administration, you know, worked to deceive the American public, and now he is saying, okay, now I'm in front of you, and I want to apologize for insulting the American voter, and I didn't mean to call people stupid. This deception occurred and it goes right to the heart of the inner workings of the Obama administration and Obamacare.
Gretchen Carlson: Even democrats today during the hearing, Congressman, seem to be really upset about this guy because they even said that he handed, you know, everything on a silver platter to the republicans in this entire argument, right?
Congressman Turner: Right. He did two things. He not only insulted the voter by calling them stupid. He then told them how they deceived us, that there was a coordinated effort to get around the aspects of the tax. This was not an accident. This was an active case of deception.
Gretchen Carlson: I understand that Jonathan Gruber is coming back to another hearing. What more do you need? What do you want from him?
Congressman Turner: Well, I think he needs to come up front and tell us who did he work with? We all know he says he did this complex calculating which actually just sounded like he put together a tax. Who did he work with? Who are the people in the administration that we can pull forward and say, hey, this is what he says about this. Is that true? Were you involved in this? Why was this put together in a way to deceive the American public because it certainly shows that in many aspects, not only just the quality of care under Obamacare, but also the fees and tacks of Obamacare. The administration did not tell the truth.
Gretchen Carlson: All rill, let me know if you come up with those people that actually admit that they know him because a lot of those politicians said, Jonathan who? We've never heard this guy. Congressman Mike Turner, we know who you are. A republican from Ohio. We thank you for your time. Thanks, sir.
Congressman Turner: Thank you so much.