Jon Taffer on Gruber: 'We've Been Defrauded' on Obamacare

Jon Taffer, host of Spike's "Bar Rescue," says the White House has "defrauded" the public on Obamacare, as evidenced by recent video of the law's architect, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, admitting that the law was written in a vague fashion to gain support.

"He committed fraud in my view," Taffer said Tuesday on Fox News Channel's "Your World with Neil Cavuto." "If a guy of the name of Barry O'Brien went to sell you an investment and moved the line items around and changed classifications, and you bought that business, and he didn't properly disclose what you were buying, would that not be fraud?"

"We've been defrauded," Taffer said, noting that the selling of the Affordable Care Act was "based on misrepresentation, nondisclosure, manipulation."

He said the selling of Obamacare is nothing like the advice he gives to troubled bar owners on his show. He said he tells his clients to cut costs by decreasing plate sizes or steering customers to items with higher profit margins.

But those changes are needed because restaurant owners face higher costs in a down economy. Obamacare is one of those costs, he said, as are rising energy costs and meat costs.

Since the costs associated with Obamacare and overhead can't be reduced, the customer takes a hit. Perhaps a steak is an ounce less, he said.

"We have to make money at the end of the month, so it's got to come from somewhere."

But he said the industry is seeing an increase in customers, though they aren't yet spending more.

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