ObamaCare 'Stupidity' Story Is Big—and Ignored

Howard Kurtz: Architect of law calls Americans dumb, and media ignores?
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 13, 2014 4:47 PM CST
ObamaCare 'Stupidity' Story Is Big—and Ignored
A file photo of MIT professor Jonathan Gruber.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

The name Jonathan Gruber should be a lot more familiar than it is right now, writes media critic Howard Kurtz. He's referring to the MIT professor and ObamaCare architect who suggested in a recently surfaced video from 2013 that the "stupidity of the American voter" helped get the law passed. First, the offending quote from Gruber:

  • “Lack 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 for the thing to pass."
In a column at Fox News, Kurtz blasts mainstream media outlets, which usually salivate over a good hidden-video story, for ignoring this one. "This is utterly inexplicable, except as a matter of bias," he writes. "No matter what you think of ObamaCare, on what planet is this not news?"

The story is getting harder to ignore, however: Gruber has conceded to MSNBC that he "spoke inappropriately," the White House today denounced the comments, and yet another video (the fourth, actually) has surfaced. In this one, Gruber is quoted as saying that President Obama "knew when he was running for president that quite frankly the American public doesn't actually care that much about the uninsured.” That's why even though the bill is "90% health insurance coverage and 10% about cost control, all you ever hear people talk about is cost control." This one is being reported by CNN, the very definition of mainstream media. Kurtz hopes the issue finally gets a "public debate," because the coverage so far has been "downright embarrassing." Read his full column. (More ObamaCare stories.)

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