Evan Bayh Used the Government Shutdown to Shill for the Medical Device Lobby

[RandySF]

On Fox News Sunday this morning, former Senator Evan Bayh voiced his support for a proposal by Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, to temporarily repeal the medical-device tax in exchange for temporary funding of the government and increasing the federal debt limit through January. Bayh told host Chris Wallace that Collin’s proposal doesn’t go far enough. “Clearly a permanent repeal would give more certainty to the business community,” said Bayh.

The “business community” Bayh referenced also happens to be huge clients of Bayh’s lobbying firm, a conflict of interest that was not disclosed during the discussion.

After leaving the Senate, Bayh became a partner at McGuireWoods, which represents Allied Medical Supply, the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association, the Cook Group, Eleka Instruments and other medical-device interests.

When Democrats, including Bayh, passed the Affordable Care Act three years ago, they enacted a 2.3 percent excise tax on medical device companies to pay for the law. As Citizens for Tax Justice notes, many major medical-device companies pay no tax at all. For instance, medical product giant Baxter International had a 2008–10 average federal income tax rate of negative 7.1 percent, according to CTJ’s report.


http://www.thenation.com/blog/176620/evan-bayh-uses-government-shutdown-shill-medical-device-lobby#

[BlueStreak]

1. This is the same guy whose wife made over $1,000,000 a year

sitting on the boards of various health industry corporations at the same time her husband was fighting AGAINST Democrats trying to pass the ACA.

And this is the selfsame guy who left office with a stash of over $5,000,000 in unspent "campaign funds" largely collected from many of these same corporations. And the campaign finance laws say he can keep the money. All he has to do is set up a sham corporation his "campaign" can pay for "professional services" rendered by said sham corporation's only employee, Evan Bayh.

If there is a Republican who is more unethical than this bastard, I don't know who it is.

[montanacowboy]

2. No Labels Guy

him and Jon Huntsman are shilling the No Labels Bullshit

Evan Byah is a POS

[dreamnightwind]

3. DINO extraordinaire

and an excellent example of who they ultimately work for. Dems like this may help us gain majorities, but at what cost? The cost is the very soul of the party.

[Douglas Carpenter]

4. and that piece of slime came very close to being nominated for Vice President in 2008

Thank God cooler heads prevailed.