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In a verbal tongue lashing by both Democrats and Republicans, Jonathan Gruber the architect of Obamacare faced the gauntlet of fire while testifying on Tuesday, regarding his comments he made about how Obamacare was passed and his public statements regarding the intelligence of the American people.

Ranking Democratic member Congressman Elijah Cummings lit into MIT Professor Jonathan Gruber, angrily stating, “As far as I can tell, we are here today to beat up on Jonathan Gruber for stupid — I mean absolutely stupid — comments he made over the last few years.”

Cummings continued his verbal chastisement of Gruber, “Let me be clear, I am extremely frustrated with Dr. Gruber’s statements,” Cummings continued. “They were irresponsibly, incredibly disrespectful, and did not reflect reality. And they were indeed insulting.”

“I was in Congress when this law was debated, and Dr. Gruber does not speak for me, or the chairman of the other committees who worked tirelessly on this bill,” he said. “We debated this legislation for nearly a year before it was finally passed and signed by the president! Never once did I believe or did anyone suggest that we were somehow hiding our goals from the American people.”

“But worst of all,” the ranking member concluded, “Dr. Gruber’s statements gave Republicans a public relations gift in their relentless political campaign to tear down the ACA and eliminate health care for millions of Americans!”

The attacks continued from all sides and Real Clear Politics reported the panel also sparred with the hearing’s main witness over his refusal to say publically how much he was paid to advise the White House. “How much did taxpayers pay you to then lie to them?” Ohio Republican Jim Jordan asked repeatedly. Gruber said his attorneys would later submit the answer for the record, but that he did not recall the number.

Democrats have been stiff arming any knowledge of Gruber but unfortunately we live in the digital age and videos have surfaced to refute Democrats statements they knew who he was or what role he played in the implementation of Obamacare.

Currently, two senior Democratic Senators have come out publically on their belief the Democrats made a mistake in focusing on health care reform when the public clearly wanted attention focused on the economy.

The Hill reported Senator Schumer and Harkin – both of whom played an outsized role in crafting the legislation in 2009 and 2010 – have raised eyebrows in recent weeks by second-guessing the wisdom of their work.

Schumer said the Democrats’ timing was poor, arguing that party leaders should have used the momentum coming out of the Democrats’ 2008 election sweep to focus on bread-and-butter economic issues.

“After passing the stimulus, Democrats should have continued to propose middle-class-oriented programs and built on the partial success of the stimulus,” Schumer, the Senate’s third-ranking Democrat, said in a Nov. 25 speech at the National Press Club. “Americans were crying out for an end to the recession, for better wages and more jobs – not for changes in their healthcare.”

The Hill continued in its reporting Harkin took those jabs a step further this week, arguing that the policy itself is flawed because Democrats didn’t fight hard enough for a public insurance option or a single-payer system, like that underlying Medicare.

“We had the power to do it in a way that would have simplified healthcare, made it more efficient and made it less costly, and we didn’t do it,” Harkin, the chairman of the Senate health committee, told The Hill. “So I look back and say we should have either done it the correct way or not done anything at all.

“What we did is we muddled through and we got a system that is complex, convoluted, needs probably some corrections and still rewards the insurance companies extensively,” he added.

Rep. Henry Waxman of California angrily fought back against his fellow Democratic colleagues in the Senate, “I disagree with both of them,” who was then the Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. “I disagree with what they said, and I can’t quite see a lot of value in it.”

The real issue for the American people is that they are and will see healthcare premiums rise on average of around 15%, and the employer and individual mandate begins to take effect.

The real fate of Obamacare comes in June when the Supreme Court will rule on the viability of healthcare subsidies.

Next year will be another pivotal year for Obamacare.