Eight US states have contracted with Gruber for his 'expert' advice on implementing Obamacare in their states

.

11/14/14,  "Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber has billed federal and state governments at least $5.9 million for advice, as more videos surface showing him undercutting the landmark law," UK Daily Mail, David Martosko

"Of the eight U.S. states that have contracted with Gruber to get access to his computer model – Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin – four of them have published contracts worth about $400,000 each.

If the other four followed suit, that would amount to another $1.6 million. Some of those fees were shared with other researchers who co-authored his reports.

All eight used his services to help estimate insurance marketplace costs related to their state-based Obamacare programs.

Gruber also worked extensively on the so-called 'Romneycare' law, a Massachusetts health insurance plan that formed the intellectual and philosophical underpinnings of Obamacare, and reportedly won a consulting contract with the state of California.

The Vermont model he built along with Harvard School of Public Health economist William Hsiao is an attempt to construct a 'single-payer' insurance system that puts government in charge of health care costs for everyone in the state.

The sixth in a long line of embarrassing videos emerged Friday, showing the two academics testifying before lawmakers there."...

Gruber explained that the Obamacare law 'was written in a tortured way to make sure the CBO did not score the [individual insurance] mandate as taxes.'

'If CBO scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies.'"...

==================

Gruber: "'If CBO scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies.'"...

June 28, 2012: "ObamaCare is a tax." Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts

"In a 5-4 ruling based on the power of Congress to impose taxes, the court preserved the law's "individual mandate" requiring that most Americans obtain health insurance by 2014 or pay a tax....

The court was deeply divided on this issue, but the majority ruled that Congress' taxing power was more important.

The law's "requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may  

reasonably be characterized as a tax," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court's majority.

"Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness," wrote Roberts, who was joined by the four most liberal members - Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor."...

6/28/12, "U.S. top court upholds healthcare law in Obama triumph," Reuters, James Vicini and Jonathan Stempel

"The U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama's healthcare law on Thursday in an election-year triumph for him and fellow Democrats and a stinging setback for Republican opponents... 

===================

Added: As of 11/15/14, Obamacare remains illegal. All taxes must originate in the House of Representatives. The fact that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said it was legal as a tax doesn't relieve the US House of Representatives of its Constitutional duty of approving it as such. John Boehner has never allowed a vote to approve ObamaCare as a tax to come to the floor and he never will. 

Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution:

"Section 7 - The Meaning"
 
"The House of Representatives must begin the process when it comes to raising and spending money. It is the chamber where all taxing and spending bills start....Only the House may introduce a bill that involves taxes."
 .
============================ 

Also: The House can unilaterally defund any spending if it wishes to do so. The GOP House simply has no desire to defund Obamacare so opts not to use its provided power.

House of Representatives unilateral power to defund:

"The House of Representatives cannot only refuse, but they alone can propose the supplies requisite for the support of the government. They, in a word, hold the power of the purse."...And there's no such thing as "mandatory spending:"

8/30/13, "Founders made defunding 'the most complete and effectual weapon'," Washington Examiner, Mark Tapscott, Executive Editor  

================================

Comment: Wisconsin is listed in the UK Daily Mail article above as one of Gruber's clients. Gov. Scott Walker was at one time famous for opposing Obamacare. Now that he's famous, he can screw the people who believed in him:

12/13/13, "Wisconsin governor offers a way around ObamaCare problems," Fox News, Mike Tobin