Interview On Obamacare With Jonathan Gruber - A Brief Interlude With Expert Opinion - Esquire:
"In my experience," he said, "it is totally unprecedented to keep challenging a law that's already been passed. The Republicans know that, once this takes place, they're in big trouble because it's going to work."
Gruber shares my amusement with the fact that the Republicans are all in favor of those parts of the law that poll really, really well -- the protections for folks with pre-existing conditions, the ability of kids to stay on their parent's insurance until they're 25, and the ban on lifetime caps -- but have announced their unyielding opposition to all the provisions in the law that make those things possible, specifically the individual mandate. This, he reminds us, hearkens back to the golden days of St. Ronnie, who told us we could have a massive tax cut, a massive military spending spree, and no cuts at all in the programs we love because...sparkle ponies!
"What's been great about this process is that it's been a fairly intellectually honest process," said Gruber. "You have to have your spinach if you're going to have your cake. That's what the Republicans are pretending not to understand. Up here in Massachusetts, the biggest opponent of the individual mandate was John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO. He said it was going to be the end of employer-based health-care here. Well, that certainly wasn't the case.