Here's an explanation:
U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren
is a superstar within the Democratic Party and a lightning rod for
Republican outrage over the issue of tax fairness. But there is one tax
that Warren doesn't like and it's part of Obamacare. The 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices is a little-known
provision in the law that is estimated to raise $20 billion in revenue
over 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. But some Democrats, including Warren, a Democratic National Convention
speaker, represent states that employ medical device workers and are
concerned that the tax with hamper job growth in industry valued at over
$100 billion in 2010, according to the Department of Commerce.
Perhaps it is not a good idea to impose excise taxes on particular industries. But this reminds me a bit of the late Senator Paul Wellstone's support for aspects of "tort reform" legislation that benefitted the medical device industry. Wellstone was probably as far to the left as anyone in the Senate. So, why? Perhaps because he was a Senator from the home state of Medtronic.
