Al Franken Misses the Punchline

Now that Congress is actually reading the Obamacare bill they passed three years ago without such due diligence, they've decided they don't like parts of it. Specifically the excise tax on medical device sales lost on the Senate floor 79 to 20.

The two Democrat senators from Minnesota had these comments. Al Franken: "The industry is being punished for its innovation and growth." Amy Klobuchar: "The tax is a burden on medical device businesses but, most importantly, it is a disincentive for jobs. It stifles innovation, and it makes it more difficult for the next generation of lifesaving devices to make it to the market."

What's behind this epiphany? Minnesota happens to be the home of several big medical device manufacturers who employ a lot of Minnesotans. But, really, Senators could you expand your parochial brains just a bit? If a tax on medical devices stifles innovation and retards job creation, why doesn't a tax on pharmaceutical companies make it more difficult for the next generation of drugs to make it to the market? Why doesn't a tax on, say, successful software developers not stifle innovation and jobs in the software industry? Why doesn't a tax on any enterprise not stifle innovation and jobs?

The answer is, IT DOES.