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ByCharlesBabington The Associated Press WASHINGTON MITecono- mist Jonathan Gruber — an often-quoted adviser on the president's health care law — told Congress on Tues- day he was glib and "inex- cusably arrogant" when he said it was "the stupidity of the American voter" that led to the law's passage. Democrats tried to limit the damage as Republicans raked Gruber at a four-hour hearing, but acknowledged he gave the GOP a political gift "wrapped in a bow." Gruber told groups in 2012 and 2013 that voter stupidity and a "lack of transparency" were impor- tant to passing the hard- fought legislation. Appear- ing before the House Over- sight committee Tuesday, Gruber expanded on earlier apologies, repeatedly saying "I was conjecturing in areas beyond my expertise." Enduring one fierce lec- ture after another, Gru- ber said his earlier com- ments were uninformed, "glib, thoughtless and some- times downright insulting." He said he was showing off before various groups, and "trying to be something, I'm not, which was a politi- cal expert." He said the law's pas- sage was actually trans- parent and heavily debated in public, despite his earlier comments. And Gruber said he was not the "architect" of the law, as some press ac- counts had claimed. But Republican Commit- tee Chairman Darrell Issa of California called Gruber a crucial player in the leg- islation. Issa grilled Gruber repeatedly in what might be his last committee probe of what he calls "Obamacare." Republican term limits will force Issa — whose bare- knuckled attacks on admin- istration programs some- times annoy GOP leaders — to surrender the committee chairmanship in the next Congress. Issa and other Republi- cans sarcastically praised Gruber for "telling the truth" in his 2012 and 2013 remarks, while also ham- mering his efforts Tuesday to walk them back. Gruber remained calm, but sometimes struggled to characterize the earlier re- marks. They "were not lies," he said. Rather, "they were my conjecture outside my area of expertise." Gruber defended his con- sulting work, which centers on economic models that predict health care costs. Democrats tried to make the most of having an often- vilified witness retracting some of his most damaging remarks. Rep. Elijah Cum- mings of Maryland, the committee's top Democrat, glared at Gruber and called his remarks from 2012 and 2013 "absolutely stupid" and "incredibly disrespect- ful." The remarks gave the health law's opponents a public-relations gift, Cum- mings told Gruber, "and you did a great job. You wrapped it up with a bow." Also testifying Tuesday was Marilyn Tavenner, ad- ministrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Issa denied her request to sit on a different witness panel than Gruber. Tavenner apologized for earlier having given the committee data that over- stated enrollment under the health care law. She said the error was caused by inad- vertently double-count- ing people with both den- tal and medical insurance coverage. Cummings said Tavenner had helped the Republicans via "an unforced error." Issa demanded more doc- uments about the miscount, saying his staff had easily discovered the incorrect numbers. GOP Rep. Jim Jor- dan of Ohio called the en- rollment miscount "a delib- erate deception" that was typical of Obama admin- istration misstatements about the landmark law. As for Gruber, Jordan demanded to know, "how much did the American taxpayers pay you to de- ceive them?" Gruber has said the federal government paid him about $400,000, but he declined to specu- late about payments from various states. Issa said the committee will subpoena his income records. Several Republicans pressed Gruber about his earlier remarks suggesting the administration went to lengths to portray a key el- ement of the health law as something other than a tax. Under the law, people who fail to obtain health insur- ance will generally have to pay a penalty, collected with their income taxes. 'STUPIDITY' OF VOTERS President's health adviser apologizes for 'glib' remarks MOLLYRILEY—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, le , huddles on Tuesday while testifying before the House Oversight Committee health care hearing. MOLLY RILEY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Secretary of State John Kerry greets committee members as he arrives Tuesday to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. By Deb Riechmann The Associated Press WASHINGTON Secretary of State John Kerry asked Congress on Tuesday for new war powers to provide the legal grounding for U.S. military operations against the Islamic State, but said any new authori- zation should not limit the fight to Iraq and Syria and should not bind President Barack Obama from ever deploying ground troops against the group if nec- essary. Obama has been using congressional authoriza- tions that former Presi- dent George W. Bush re- lied on after 9/11. Critics say the White House's use of post-9/11 congressional authorizations is a legal stretch at best. Obama has insisted that he already had the neces- sary legal authorities to take against IS. He has sent about 3,000 U.S. troops to train and assist Iraqi secu- rity forces, and since Sep- tember, a U.S.-led coalition has launched hundreds of airstrikes against targets in Iraq and Syria. More recently, the president has said that he wants a new Authorization for Use of Military Force and Ker- ry's testimony is the first time that the administra- tion is asking Congress to pass one. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., the outgoing chair- man of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, la- mented that if the White House wanted a new AUMF, it should have sent suggested language as the airstrikes began months ago. Few lawmakers expect that Congress will approve new war powers before the end of the lame-duck ses- sion this year. In January, Republicans will control both the Senate and the House. "Whatever passes out of committee this week is not going to become law," Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the incoming chairman of the committee, said, add- ing that the committee also wants to hear from intelligence and defense officials. Kerry said the adminis- tration believes that a pro- posal drafted by Menendez is a good starting point, but that the administra- tion seeks some important changes. Generally, Kerry said the administration is seek- ing an authorization that does not include a geo- graphical limitation. Kerry says flexible war powers needed SECRETARY OF STATE Publishes: Tuesday, December 23, 2014 Deadline: Thursday, December 18, 2014 & Christmas Eve Services Full Color included 2x2 $ 57 00 2x3 $ 82 00 Call Daleen at the Red Bluff Daily (530) 527-2151 ext. 101 Select"Subscribe"tabinlowerrightcorner Complete information for automatic weekly delivery to your email inbox That's it! This FREE service made possible by the advertisers in TV Select Magazine Kindly patronize and thank them. Click on their ads online to access their websites! FREE online subscription to TV Select Magazine Digital edition emailed to you, every Saturday! 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