my blue-dog wimp ass

[spanone]

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper backed a proposal Thursday to end the federal government shutdown by repealing a new tax on medical devices, but the plan appears to have little chance of passing.

Cooper, D-Nashville, said he would join a group of moderate congressional Democrats and Republicans seeking to reopen the federal government by reversing the 2.3 percent levy on medical devices that starts Jan. 1.

Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama have been cool to the prospect of offering any concessions in exchange for ending the shutdown. Earlier this week, Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the idea of repealing the medical device tax in exchange for ending the shutdown “stupid.”

The medical device tax will raise an estimated $29 billion over the next decade. The tax is to be collected on purchases of medical devices by doctors or hospitals, but consumer items bought for personal use will be exempt.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20131004/NEWS02/310040145/1972/NEWS02

[bigdarryl]

1. Whats the BIG DEAL!!! with this medical device and why are the rethugs are against it so much

[spanone]

2. doctors/hospitals have to pay, the medical lobby has the winguts by the wingnuts

[Roland99]

4. The lobbyists from the mfrs have been going full tilt on this.

[Roland99]

3. *That's* how you negotiate! You start off with...

giving them what they want...

[Zorra]

5. The whole lot of them disgust me.