{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398363", "Congressman Griffith's Weekly E-Newsletter 11.10.14", "2014-11-10", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "25 Years Without the \u201cIron Curtain\u201d As a student of history, I feel it important to note the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, described by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill as an \u201cIron Curtain\u201d dividing Europe.\u00a0 Much of the population doesn\u2019t remember this \u2013 they were either too young or not yet born.\u00a0\u00a0But for roughly 30 years, I was a part of a generation that had lived with the threat of the Soviet Union and nuclear war. I went to college with a student whose father had escaped from Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.\u00a0 As a boy, I witnessed the Czechoslovakian Uprising of 1968. Why did they fight?\u00a0 Why did they want to be free, whether in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, or East Germany?\u00a0 Because they wanted the liberty and the freedom that we have here in these United States.\u00a0 They wanted the prosperity that a generally capitalistic society could give them, as opposed to what resulted from communism or strict socialism. Let us not forget: no matter how appealing the goals of those two economic systems may be, those systems never function as they are intended to. How are we in the United States able to maintain our society and our freedoms in the face of so many threats from around the world \u2013 the threats posed by Soviet Union in my younger days, the threats today posed by others?\u00a0 It is through the continued desire of our people to be free, and the ability of our military to keep outside forces from dominating our country.\u00a0 I thank everyone who speaks up for American freedom and our God-given liberties and rights.\u00a0 And particularly during this week where we celebrate Veterans Day, I thank each and every veteran who served in order to defend those rights. To watch the Berlin Wall come down, knowing that an imprisoned people were now free, was a joyous occasion.\u00a0 \u201cThe fall of the Wall has shown us that dreams can come true,\u201d German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a November 9 event commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall.\u00a0 \u201cNothing has to stay the way it is, however big the hurdles are.\u201d The Supreme Court and Obamacare As you remember, I called on the Obama Administration to release 2015 health insurance rates by Tuesday, October 28 \u2013 a week before the recent elections \u2013 to increase transparency and ensure that the American people were not kept in the dark for political reasons.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the Administration did not do this. Instead, on Sunday, November 9, they announced that people could begin viewing and comparing rates on the Obamacare website starting Monday, November 10.\u00a0 For those who opt in or are forced onto Obamacare, open enrollment begins five days later on November 15.\u00a0 Not much time to study the options.\u00a0 Of course, in many parts of rural Virginia, there aren\u2019t many choices. Jonathan Gruber, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has been referred to as Obamacare\u2019s \u201cchief architect,\u201d said last year, \u201cLack of transparency is a huge political advantage.\u201d\u00a0 Apparently, the Obama Administration hasn\u2019t changed their feelings about transparency or they would have given us the insurance rates before now.\u00a0 Gruber went on to say, \u201cAnd basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical for the thing to pass.\u201d Many people are of the view that Obamacare\u2019s legality is settled.\u00a0 However, given several unresolved challenges, this is not necessarily the case. On Friday, November 7, it was announced that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear King v. Burwell, a case the interpretation of the health care law as it relates to Obamacare subsidies.\u00a0\u00a0 As summarized by the Washington Post, \u201cThe question in this challenge is whether the subsidies should be available to all Americans who qualify or only to those who purchase insurance through exchanges \u2018established by the state,\u2019\u201d with challengers arguing that the Administration is violating the text of the law by providing subsidies in federally run exchanges in states that have chosen not to set up their own exchanges. In fact, Jonathan Gruber referenced above said in 2012, \u201cIf you\u2019re a state and you don\u2019t set up an exchange, that means your citizens don\u2019t get their tax credits.\u201d Of course, Gruber has since said that phrase was \u201ca mistake.\u201d\u00a0 Will the Supreme Court agree with his original statement and rule against the Obama Administration?\u00a0 A decision should come next spring. As always, if you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398363"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3929209671914577, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}