'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Small manufacturers and distributors of medical equipment are chafing under the new tax, saying they can no longer invest in their once-innovative firms and may resort to layoffs because of the 2.3 percent tax on everything from pacemakers to artificial joints.
Marking the third anniversary of the health care law's passage in Congress, Republicans and Democrats agreed on one thing Thursday — President Obama's signature legislative achievement could use some changes.
The Senate on Thursday voted to repeal a sales tax on medical devices that is part of President Obama's health-care law, a rare bipartisan attempt to strip away a section of the controversial reforms.
President Obama's health care law passed Congress three years ago and remains almost entirely intact, but Republicans say they are still gathering support to dismantle it, betting that the overhaul will lose its political heft as Americans feel the brunt of its taxes and regulations.
Republicans presented a united front on debt and taxes Sunday, ruling out tax increases as a way of reaching a "grand bargain" on the budget despite President Obama's recent efforts to pour on the charm.
There was more finger-pointing and jostling Sunday over how to avoid the "fiscal cliff," but there was also a growing sense of pessimism over whether a deal can be reached before the year-end deadline.
Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows:
Two years after their party made historic inroads in a traditionally deep-blue state, Republicans in Minnesota find themselves again looking at a period of rebuilding.
A severe shortage of a childhood cancer drug should ease before hospitals run out of it in a couple weeks, a top federal regulator said Tuesday. But the companies that make the drug are giving few details about how they will find a long-term solution to end the problem.
Just six months ago, Senate Republicans seemed poised to march to victory in 2012 and easily retake control of the upper chamber of Congress, but some successful Democratic recruiting and some unintentional help from the tea party in recent months have made next year's overall contest more competitive.
It wasn't so long ago that Minnesota seemed like an attractive target for an emboldened GOP trying to expand its list of presidential battlegrounds.
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Wednesday definitively ruled out a 2012 campaign for the U.S. Senate after ending his Republican bid for the White House a few days ago.
The Environmental Protection Agency is clamping down on power-plant pollution in 27 states that contributes to unhealthy air downwind.
In a signal that austerity is now the prevailing attitude on Capitol Hill, the Senate voted Thursday to end billions of dollars in annual tax credits for blended ethanol — a once-sacrosanct program that has fallen victim to troubled government finances.
The White House went all out to underscore the theme of friendship at Tuesday's state dinner for German Chancellor Angela Merkel: It even did a little social engineering with James Taylor's playlist for the al fresco gathering in the Rose Garden.
She said the 2.3 percent tax stifles innovation and threatens America's position as the top exporter of medical devices.
Ms. Klobuchar said Minnesota contains 400 medical device companies that employ 35,000 people, amounting to "one of the bright spots in America's economy."
