Although it has more than enough votes to pass, Republican proponents of a U.S. House bid to repeal the 2.3% medical device levy are turning up the volume on their attacks across the aisle.
With a vote expected as early as this week, House GOPers seem poised for a swift victory in their move to push repeal through, but even this issue is subject to the partisan furor sweeping the country.
Rep. Erik Paulsen’s (R-Minn.) tax repeal bill, introduced in January 2011, at last count had 238 co-sponsors – or nearly 55% of the chamber, more than enough to pass. House leaders said last week that a vote could come anytime after the Memorial Day Holiday.
Democratic support for the measure has been scarce. Only a handful of House Dems have signed on to Paulsen’s bill; no Senate Dems have lent their names to repeal, according to a press release.
Now Republican efforts to turn the device tax into an election-year weapon have gone into overdrive.
Read more of MassDevice.com’s coverage of the medical device tax.
The National Republican Congressional Committee issued a slew of press releases targeting Democratic incumbents ahead of the November vote – even members who’ve publicly supported repeal of the tax, set to go into effect next year.
Earlier this month, the NRCC targeted Congressman Jim Matheson (D-Utah) and his 7th run for office, accusing him of fulfilling his "commitment to his party’s limitless spending addiction and job-killing agenda."
But Matheson was 1 of 34 Democrats who voted "no" on President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare reform bill and has publicly advocated for "repeal of misguided elements of the healthcare law that are too costly, burdensome or over-reaching."
Republicans have also targeted Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), even through he’s 1 of fewer than 10 Dems to co-sponsor a House measure that would kill the tax, according to Politico.
Although the House GOP doesn’t need any Democratic votes to pass the bill, having a few couldn’t hurt when the measure hits the Democrat-led Senate floor.
The device tax has become an issue in at least 2 Senate races, in Massachusetts and Minnesota. Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren, who’s hoping to become the Bay State’s junior senator, raised eyebrows with an exclusive op-ed for MassDevice.com urging repeal of the medical device tax.
In Minnesota, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is hoping to hold onto her seat against Rep. Kurt Bills (R-Minn.), who won the nod from Republicans in the Land of 10,000 Lakes May 18.
