ObamaCare tax a “job killer” say 16 Democrats who voted for it
Finally figuring it out? Or finally admitting it?
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 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.
In the letter they say:
“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.”
For whatever reason, however, these 16 can’t seem to understand how what they’re claiming here applies across the board to all taxes. That is, they’re job killers. ObamaCare’s taxes and mandates are particularly pernicious because they have many companies trying to figure out how to avoid them and that will mean fewer jobs, not more and certainly more costs in general.
But then no one ever said our political leadership was particularly sharp. After all, somehow Maxine Waters is about to become the ranking member (senior Democrat) on the House Financial Services committee and Harry Reid remains the Majority Leader in the Senate.
Of course ObamaCare is full of job killing taxes as we’ve all become aware, and many of them will hit this year. Add those to the “fiscal cliff” tax increases as well as sequestration and you can bet the Dems will see their “pro-choice” agenda fulfilled this next year – any developing economic recovery will be quickly aborted as exactly all the wrong things government can do to kill such a recover are done.
~McQ
No, McQ. It IS bad, but it is not THAT bad. She’s in Congress. Which is all by itself an unassailable argument for term limits.
And I see members of the cast of usual nanny-state offenders are prominent on the list.
Lining up the next corporate re-election contribution are we?
Of course they understand that this applies to all taxes. The medical device industry deserves special consideration this week, that’s all. The reason for that is probably that these 16 Dems have some sort of personal interest in affected companies — donors, investments, relatives, or whatever.
Put a tax on gross receipts from movies, videos and video games to cover the lost revenue.
I that isn’t enough, put a 85% tax on royalties from books and speeches by present and past federal government employees, elected, appointed and civil service, for works that include material of any kind related to their government jobs.
Me likey! Very much.
Half the Senators on this list come from states that are considered major Medical device manufacturers.
Update – it’s 18, and Elizabeth Warren is on the list.
Fire Big Bird
All these Senators—like Al Franken, whose state is loaded with hearing aid manufacturers—are simply representing their areas’ financial interests. But in the end, the increase of 2.5% really isn’t going to make a difference.
Really? Good of you to decide Tad. If I could I’d decide all your payments would rise by 2.5% here and 2.5% there until we discovered where the ‘difference’ becomes important to YOU.
OK. 2.5% fewer food stamps this month and every month into the future to offset this blunder.
I mean .. it’s only 2.5% (unless you happen to be one of those 2.5%)
Make ‘em repeal ObamaDoesn’tGiveAShit
Know anything about medical device manufacturers Tad? 75% of them are what we’d all call VERY small companies
The U.S. medical devices industry is known for producing high quality products using
advanced technology resulting from significant investment in research and development (R&D).
There were approximately 5,300 medical device companies in the U.S. in 2007]1, mostly small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In 2007, approximately 73 percent of medical device
companies had fewer than 20 employees, with15 percent having as many as 100 employees2.
Medical device companies are located throughout the country, but are mainly concentrated in
specific regions known for other high-technology industries, such as microelectronics and
biotechnology. The states with the highest number of medical device companies include
California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts, Illinois, Minnesota and
Georgia.
When you have 20 employees or less Tad, that 2.5% probably MATTERS.
http://ita.doc.gov/td/health/medical%20device%20industry%20assessment%20final%20ii%203-24-10.pdf
Crap. If ONLY he’d just stopped there, we might have had some hope. But NNNNNNNoooooooooooooooo…
At the beginning, middle, and end, this steaming pile of crap called ObamaCare WILL kill what’s left of this economy if it is allowed to be implemented.
Course they did, that’s their freaking job and they should have thought of that when they voted for the bill. And THAT is one of the the points of the post I assume.
But Commie Marine can’t help himself.
Good. I’m sending you an invoice, you can pay 2.5% of MY bills every month. You’re really generous with other people’s money aren’t you? You can pay 2.5% of all my bills. You can pay 2.5% of everything I purchase this year. You can pay 2.5% of my income tax (federal, state AND city).
We really need to stop letting state income taxes be deductible. This would hurt me and make me moving to Texas become very attractive, but it would be like chemotherapy…painful but critical for long term health.
I can’t tell if this is a tax on the manufacture or the sale of medical equipment, but either way, here is my tax advice (and you’d better take it, or your competitors here or abroad will.)
1) Keep US company open only as a subsidiary of your new company in Canada or wherever. Use it only for the sale of medical devices into the US market.
2) Move production and global sales out of the US to avoid the tax hitting all production and export sales to boot.
3) If the tax was created intelligently, with exports not hit, and manufacturing not hit, then just pass it on to the consumer, thus increasing the cost of healthcare.
“are simply representing their areas’ financial interests.”
True, but they are supposed to be representing the *people’s* interests.
Actually, Senators are supposed to represent their STATE’s interest. Remember the original design.
Now as the ‘super’ 6 year representatives for the people of the state….
I am assuming by ‘the state’ you man the people of the state, not just a large area of dirt and vegetation.
I am also assuming you will also understand that ‘man’ should be ‘mean’.
And your assumption would be right.
NOT “the people” as in, “the masses” nationally. But the interests of the people of the state sending them to the Senate.
Excellent example of a THUG mentality.
Tad, a bit over 100 years ago, you and yours would be dangling from a tree.
If they were actually interested in representing their state’s financial interests, they wouldn’t have voted for this legislative turd in the first place.
Mmmmmm. Good times.
Drat! This was supposed to be a comment on Sharpshooter’s comment. I blame multitasking.
And if you don’t think the 2.5% matters, then WHY do it? After all Tad, ‘isn’t really going to make a difference’. And if it won’t make a difference we could not do it, and it would be okay, right?
When the Obamacare taxes start piling up, they just want to say that they opposed those taxes. Of course prior to them passing would have been nice, but that detail will be left out.
They were for them before (all the fallout) they were against them.
I agree with Al Franken! (I just threw up in my mouth!)
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This is both the solution and the problem.
Once we delay this tax (I won’t pass judgement on it’s impact for the purposes of this argument), we will then be performing the same old “get somebody else to pay” argument. If these taxes were necessary to pass ObamaDoesn’tGiveAShit, then let them live and die with them. It’s all or nothing.
… or perhaps, the “rich” (i.e. anybody with a job) could “pay a little more” to offset the impact.
And eight years from now, we’ll be looking at the expiration of the exemption on medical device companies and demanding that the Senate and House extend the ‘benefit’.