Flashback: Reid in 2009 Called Gruber ‘One of the Most Respected Economists in the World’

Speaking on the Senate floor December 1st, 2009, Sen. Harry Reid praised Jonathan Gruber, calling him "one of the most respected economists in the world:

The Congressional Budget Office said yesterday the majority of American families who buy insurance in the new marketplace we will create -- what we call health insurance exchanges -- will see their premiums go down. They will go down by as much as 60 percent. Out of 100 percent of the American people, 93 percent will have a drop in their insurance premiums with this legislation -- 93 percent.

CBO's experts aren't the first to recognize these benefits. Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Jonathan Gruber, who is one of the most respected economists in the world, said in today’s Washington Post: "Here’s a bill that reduces the deficit, covers 30 million people and has the promise of lowering premiums in the long run." Pretty good statement.