{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://roby.house.gov/column/audacity-hoax-obamacare-architect-admits-deceiving-voters", "Audacity of Hoax? Obamacare Architect Admits Deceiving Voters", "2014-11-14", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "AL", "Martha Roby", "R000591", "roby.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Five years after its passage, the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, is as unpopular as ever \u2013 only 37 percent of Americans view it favorably. Throughout Alabama and around the country, this ill-conceived mandate has led to\u00a0cancelled insurance policies, dramatic spikes in premiums and copays, reduced work hours for wage earners and tax increases that affect middle class families.\nAdding insult to injury this week was Jonathan Gruber, an MIT economist and one of the\u00a0chief architects of the Obamacare law.\u00a0Videos surfaced of Gruber acknowledging the lack of transparency and outright deceit it took to pass Obamacare through Congress five years ago. From one of the tapes:\n \n\t\u201cIf you had a law that said healthy people are going to pay in, that made it explicit that healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it would not have passed. Okay?\u00a0\n\t\u201c\u2026Lack 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 to getting the thing to pass.\u201d\n \nYou read that correctly: the crafters of Obamacare thought you were too stupid to understand why your taxes went up, hours at work got cut, health care policy got cancelled, or premiums skyrocketed. In fact, they were counting on it. Because, by Gruber\u2019s own admission, even a Democratic Majority in Congress would not have passed a bill that truthfully explained what the effects of Obamacare would be. \u00a0\nI\u2019m not surprised, really. Obamacare was built on a foundation of lies. Remember \u201cif you like your health plan, you can keep your health plan\u201d?\u00a0\nWhat this revelation lays bare is the Administration\u2019s contempt and disrespect for the American voters. To be so willing to obfuscate, distract, and outright lie about a proposal that would negatively affect millions of Americans takes next-level hubris and callousness; an \u201cAudacity of Hoax.\u201d\nOf course, Administration officials and Democratic leaders are trying to walk back Gruber\u2019s statements. In fact, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi-- who repeatedly touted Gruber\u2019s analysis when passing the law-- has gone so far as to claim that she doesn\u2019t know who Gruber is.\nFacts are\u00a0stubborn things, and the camera doesn\u2019t lie. Not only did Obamcare\u2019s designers craft intentionally deceptive legislation, they considered that deception and the\u00a0gullibility of Americans central to their ability to pass it.\u00a0\nI\u00a0believe\u00a0most Americans see through such\u00a0political\u00a0games. My conservative colleagues and I remain committed to dismantling Obamacare and replacing it with sensible health reforms that are patient-centered, competition-driven and actually work to reduce costs.", 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://roby.house.gov/column/audacity-hoax-obamacare-architect-admits-deceiving-voters"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5674373134970665, "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"}