Merry Christmas, You're Fired...Love, President Obama

American Thinker ^ | 12/03/2012 | Chad Stafko

[SeekAndFind]

Thanks to the 62,615,406 individuals who took off their thinking caps and re-elected President Barack Obama, thousands upon thousands of folks are receiving their pink slips now or soon will over the next several weeks or months. These lost jobs are often high-paying and are disappearing by the hour.

The culprit? It's none other than Obama's landmark legislation, The Affordable Care Act, aka ObamaCare.

Re-electing Barack Obama guaranteed that the 2.3% medical device tax, a key funding source for ObamaCare, will go into effect on January 1, 2013. This transfer of money from these companies to the federal government, which is effectively a far higher amount than it first appears, is producing massive layoffs in one of the most innovative and life-saving industries in America.

Understand that this 2.3% tax is not on the earnings of medical device makers; rather, it's on the top line, meaning the revenues of the company. So regardless of whether the medical equipment makers earn one red cent, they will still have to pay the tax.

Medical device makers, with a few exceptions, are largely small to mid-sized companies. They are typically job-creators, but thanks to the ObamaCare tax, they, for their very survival, have become job-eliminators...just in time for the holidays.

Take for example industry behemoth Stryker Corporation, which produces, among other items, a host of orthopedic devices. Stryker is reducing its workforce by 5% in response to the medical equipment tax.

It's been estimated that the 2.3% medical device revenue tax equates to an actual 15% tax on corporate earnings for some of these companies. This is substantial, and all because this industry has been selected to fund Obama's landmark legislation.

The list of job layoffs in this industry is staggering. Some examples:

[Cyber Liberty]

... a complete failure in messaging.

In order to message something, one must think of it first, and when I see the likes of Romney, McCain and Boehner, I just don't believe they even thought of it in the first place.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

“... a complete failure in messaging....

In order to message something, one must think of it first, and when I see the likes of Romney, McCain and Boehner, I just don’t believe they even thought of it in the first place.”

Excellent point.

[Marie]

As with other taxes, manufacturers will pass this along to consumers via higher prices. If there is evidence to the contrary, I’ve not seen it.

But the medical market is NOT the free market.

I've been watching my TriCare statements a lot closer this year and I'm shocked to see my $180 specialist being paid $19.00 for a visit now. These prices are negotiated by the insurance companies and the consumer rarely knows what is being paid for them.