[caption id=”attachment_107373″ align=”aligncenter” width=”536″]Image via YouTube/American Commitment
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A stupid mistake has cost Obamacare architect and economist Jonathan Gruber multiple contracts this week.
The North Carolina state auditor’s office reevaluated its relationship with the influential Gruber after video emerged of him chalking up Obamacare’s passage to “the stupidity of the American voter.” Gruber had been hired to study a state healthcare program, WRAL reports.
“We can’t use you on a project where you have a bias or where people might even think you have a bias,” a spokesperson for State Auditor Beth Wood said. Wood is a Democrat.
North Carolina is the second state to cut ties with Gruber in recent days. FOX News reported Thursday that Vermont had stopped paying him for his consulting work on the state’s single-payer healthcare system, Green Mountain Care.
“As [Gov. Pete Shumlin] and I have said, the comments by Mr. Gruber are offensive, inappropriate and do not reflect the thinking of this administration or how we do things in Vermont,” a spokesperson for the Vermont governor’s office said.
Gruber’s contract with the state was in excess of $400,000, only $160,000 of which has been paid. Despite the termination of payment, his work will be presented to the Vermont legislature next year. (Gruber was also part of a commission that recommended universal healthcare options to Vermont in 2010.)
The comments of Gruber, a world-class political liability, have already reignited the debate over Obamacare’s legitimacy. The talk may just be heating up — House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa is trying to sneak in one last popcorn-worthy hearing before surrendering his gavel next year.
(h/t The Hill)
