The Government Shutdown Countdown Lowdown MEGATHREAD

[CountDeMoney]

People and companies have all been receiving their rebates from overcharges this year.

[derspiess]

So that looks like the offer being floated.  Fund government, lift ceiling, after that's done Boehner gets device tax as a fig leaf, in a separate bill.

Which gets voted down in the Senate

[grumbler]

I must admit, the battle over the medical devices tax rather baffles me.  It's a bad tax, given that it's on sales and not profits, it provides a tiny amount of income in the big picture, and it hits manufacturing (because they can't pass it on), which means it hits jobs.

The only argument I can see against repealing it seems to be CdM's, which is that it is just the camel's nose.  Frankly, that's not a very convincing argument. 

If giving up that tax is what it takes to get things moving, then that's a win-win.

[CountDeMoney]

I dunno, g...a 2.3% sales tax on grossly overpriced and marked up equipment isnt as impactful as the industry says it is. 

Shit, we had to bar their vendors from the hospital, since they were overbilling their stock in Perioperative.  Even the Orthos said they only need so many $15,000 screws.

[Admiral Yi]

People and companies have all been receiving their rebates from overcharges this year.

wut?

[Scipio]

I dunno, g...a 2.3% sales tax on grossly overpriced and marked up equipment isnt as impactful as the industry says it is. 

Shit, we had to bar their vendors from the hospital, since they were overbilling their stock in Perioperative.  Even the Orthos said they only need so many $15,000 screws.

The use of the word "impactful" automatically renders your argument void. It is in that class of words like "proactive" that should not exist.

[CountDeMoney]

You need to build more bridges across stakehholder silos, AmScip.
During posted office hours, of course.

[CountDeMoney]

People and companies have all been receiving their rebates from overcharges this year.

wut?

Populism works.

[Admiral Yi]

Populism works.

Whatever you say, bmollson.

[11B4V]

Populism works.

Whatever you say, bmollson.

[mongers]

.......

A lot of people project their desires on the Tea Party.  It's so easy because they don't actually stand for anything, they have no real shape or form and it's human nature to try to find meaning and patterns in things.  It's political pareidolia.  They can be defined only by what they are against, and that is Obama.

I'd never heard of "pareidolia" before, and it's a great word. Thanks, Raz! 

Me neither; it is almost meant for me. 

Now to work it into a conversation, once I've worked out how to pronounce it.

[grumbler]

I dunno, g...a 2.3% sales tax on grossly overpriced and marked up equipment isnt as impactful as the industry says it is. 

Shit, we had to bar their vendors from the hospital, since they were overbilling their stock in Perioperative.  Even the Orthos said they only need so many $15,000 screws.

A tax on profits would be fine... and is fine, since it already exists.  That would catch the effect of the markups and gross overpricing.

[crazy canuck]

There might exist somewhere a Republican member of the House willing to get crucified by the Tea Party to save the country. I'm not convinced Boehner is that guy. He has stuck himself out there before, when he voted with only 85 members of his caucus to approve the legislation preventing the Fiscal Cliff, for example. But he could at least hide behind the fact he was preventing some portion of automatic tax increases with that.

I think the real question is whether there is anyone with a spine in the Republican party who can call out the Tea Party members rather than allowing the party to die on this particularly inglorious hill.

[OttoVonBismarck]

I must admit, the battle over the medical devices tax rather baffles me.  It's a bad tax, given that it's on sales and not profits, it provides a tiny amount of income in the big picture, and it hits manufacturing (because they can't pass it on), which means it hits jobs.

The only argument I can see against repealing it seems to be CdM's, which is that it is just the camel's nose.  Frankly, that's not a very convincing argument. 

If giving up that tax is what it takes to get things moving, then that's a win-win.

I agree an excise tax on medical devices has poor tax incidence. However I don't want to decrease any revenue for any reason, so I'd want $30bn in revenue from another source if we repealed the medical device tax.

[11B4V]

This whole fucking thing is comical. That screechy cunt Palin at the WW2 memorial yesterday. Like you have cause to be there you tea party twat. The Dem sea hag, Pelosi.....