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Democrats urge delay for ‘job-killing’ Obamacare tax
Washington Examiner ^ | December 11, 2012 | Byron York

Posted on 12/13/2012 9:58:59 AM PST by neverdem

Sixteen Democratic senators who voted for the Affordable Care Act are asking that one of its fundraising mechanisms, a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices scheduled to take effect January 1, be delayed.  Echoing arguments made by Republicans against Obamacare, the Democratic senators say the levy will cost jobs — in a statement Monday, Sen. Al Franken called it a “job-killing tax” — and also impair American competitiveness in the medical device field.

The senators, who made the request in a letter(PDF) to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, are Franken, Richard Durbin, Charles Schumer, Patty Murray, John Kerry, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Joseph Lieberman, Ben Nelson, Robert Casey, Debbie Stabenow, Barbara Mikulski, Kay Hagan, Herb Kohl, Jeanne Shaheen, and Richard Blumenthal.  All voted for Obamacare.

Two other Democrats, senators-elect Joe Donnelly and Elizabeth Warren, also signed the letter.  Donnelly voted for Obamacare as a member of the House.  Warren was not in Congress at the time.

“The medical technology industry directly employs over 400,000 people in the United States and is responsible for a total of two million skilled manufacturing jobs,” the senators wrote in a December 4 letter to Reid.  “We must do all we can to ensure that our country maintains its global leadership position in the medical technology industry and keeps good jobs here at home.”

Beyond that, the senators say, the medical device industry “has received little guidance about how to comply with the tax” — a reference to the apparently confused and halting nature of the Obama administration’s implementation of Obamacare.

Several of the senators, many of whom have medical device manufacturers in their states, have opposed the tax for a long time.  During the Obamacare debate, for example, Franken and Klobuchar were among a group of senators who successfully pushed to reduce the tax. (The device giant Medtronic is headquartered in Minnesota.)

On Monday, Franken again expressed his opposition to the tax he voted for.  “I want to repeal the medical device tax altogether,” the senator and former comedian said in a statement.  “But I am concerned that we are running out of time before this job-killing tax goes into effect. So, for now, the best thing to do to ensure that this important industry continues to create jobs and producing life-saving devices is to delay this unwise tax.”  Franken and other want Reid to include a provision to delay the tax in the ongoing fiscal cliff negotiations.

None of the senators found his or her earlier objections to the tax a sufficient reason to vote against Obamacare.  In December 2009, with 60 votes in the Senate and a determined Republican opposition, Democrats needed every vote they could get to pass the president’s national health care plan.  But now, with Obamacare — and the taxes to fund it — about to become a reality, some of those Democrats are singing a different tune.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2percent; democrats; fiscalcliff; franken; klobuchar; medical; obamacare; opportunity; taxes; taxeson2percent; taxesontherich
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1 posted on 12/13/2012 9:59:00 AM PST by neverdem
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To: neverdem

Eat it, Al Franken


2 posted on 12/13/2012 10:00:34 AM PST by silverleaf (Age Takes a Toll: Please Have Exact Change)
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To: neverdem

...nothing like a two sided sword, continuing to price America out of the global market....and destroying jobs all in one stroke. Yeah oh yeah, Obama!


3 posted on 12/13/2012 10:01:27 AM PST by himno hero (hadnuff)
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To: neverdem

We know how this administration rolls - friends will get their waivers, the press will yawn, and Obamacare will continue destroying every other thing in its path.


4 posted on 12/13/2012 10:01:54 AM PST by skeeter
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To: neverdem

Don’t get excited, it’s only about the tax on medical equipment.


5 posted on 12/13/2012 10:02:13 AM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: neverdem

“Me, Al Franken, a dummass.”


6 posted on 12/13/2012 10:02:33 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: neverdem
OBAMACARE DELIVERED
7 posted on 12/13/2012 10:03:51 AM PST by FrankR (They will become our ultimate masters the day we surrender the 2nd Amendment.)
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To: neverdem

What rotten people.

This tax that they passed has been coming for a long time.

Only NOW do they complain?


8 posted on 12/13/2012 10:04:10 AM PST by Pikachu_Dad (Impeach Sen Quinn)
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To: neverdem

Odungoville


9 posted on 12/13/2012 10:04:33 AM PST by Doogle (USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated))
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To: silverleaf

For the next two years, if I was running the GOP I would make sure that commercials are run every week in every state that is affected by this. I would affix the Senator and Congress critters names to it.

Each day there would be letters to the editors and editorials written about it. I would also Alinsky them.


10 posted on 12/13/2012 10:04:58 AM PST by EQAndyBuzz (You cant bring something to its knees that refuses to stand on its own)
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To: silverleaf

They own it.


11 posted on 12/13/2012 10:05:26 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (In the game of life, there are no betting limits)
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To: MrB

Well, it seems to me that he ‘gets it’. When he came to the conclusion would be interesting...before or after he voted for it. Hmmm, wonder if he’ll use the Pelosi Excuse...I had to vote for it before I knew what was in it.


12 posted on 12/13/2012 10:09:44 AM PST by 556x45
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To: neverdem
Sixteen Democratic senators who voted for the Affordable Care Act are asking that one of its fundraising mechanisms, a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices scheduled to take effect January 1, be delayed.

Nope. You broke it. You own it.

See you in 2014.

13 posted on 12/13/2012 10:11:38 AM PST by concerned about politics ("Get thee behind me, Liberal")
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To: neverdem

So now they want to defund Obamacare...who’s gonna pay for it then?


14 posted on 12/13/2012 10:13:26 AM PST by Hotlanta Mike ("Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish - too much handling will spoil it." Lao Tzu)
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To: Pikachu_Dad
Maybe some of them ACTUALLY sat down and looked at a text book (Economics 101 for dummies) and figured it out!

That wasn't an earthquake in Japan... it was the shock wave after so many Liberals slapped themselves in the forehead at the same time!

15 posted on 12/13/2012 10:14:23 AM PST by SMARTY ("The man who has no inner-life is a slave to his surroundings. "Henri Frederic Amiel)
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To: neverdem

Suckers...

Blue Shield of California seeks rate hikes up to 20%

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-blue-shield-rates-20121213,0,6546740.story

Aetna CEO Sees Obama Health Law Doubling Some Premiums

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-12/aetna-ceo-sees-obama-health-law-doubling-some-premiums.html


16 posted on 12/13/2012 10:14:29 AM PST by Hotlanta Mike ("Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish - too much handling will spoil it." Lao Tzu)
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To: nutmeg

bookmark


17 posted on 12/13/2012 10:16:53 AM PST by nutmeg
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To: All

Heck, it’s only about 3 Billion a year over the next decade.

Do you think that extra income will solve any budget problems....:^)


18 posted on 12/13/2012 10:22:11 AM PST by az_gila
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To: neverdem

To my way of thinking, if something is good, its good, if it is not, it is not. If you liked this provision of Obamacare, then live with it. If this tax harms a shaky economy, it certainly will be harmful during other portions of the business cycle. It is similar to all the exemptions that were handed out. If Obamacare is so good, there shouldn’t be a need for exemptions. If there is a need for exemptions, shouldn’t everyone get one?


19 posted on 12/13/2012 10:27:52 AM PST by fhayek
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To: neverdem

all fake,like their boss.


20 posted on 12/13/2012 10:29:46 AM PST by Doogle (USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated))
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