Today President Obama defended the Affordable Care Act and the politics that brought it into being. "There has never been more bipartisan support for any law, in this, or any in other congress," he said. "Every provision, every article, every clause, every word and every coma was publicly debated. There were, I agree, some issues about words and punctuation, there was never any significant disagreement on the law's ultimate goal."
Mr Obama dismissed the recent remarks of Jonathan Gruber, one of the main architects of the law, who has said that the law was written in such a way as to obscure its costs and to exaggerate its potential benefits. "Look," Obama said, "it's a complex law. There is no way anyone could have known what its costs might be, or if there would be any benefits. It is disingenuous to suggest that we knew what we were doing." Mr. Gruber has been seen in video clips as saying that Mr Obama relied on the stupidity of the American people in moving his agenda forward. Mr Obama responded to that, saying, "I don't think the American people are any stupider than brass door knobs. The used ones are pretty bright."
Mr. Obama ended his remarks with an attempt to reassure the American people. "If you like your health, you can keep it. No ifs, ands, or buts."
The White House did not respond immediately to an e-mail asking comment. Some of the quotes in this article has not been checked for accuracy.
No comments:
Post a Comment