Democrats in Congress 'want out' of Obamacare

Democrats must finally have read the bill.

And they don't like it.

Talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh said today, "Now all of a sudden it's 18 senators and some of these doctors and hospitals and medical groups who all of a sudden now, after it's passed, and after John Roberts contorted himself like a pretzel to find this stupid law constitution, now they want out of it."

Limbaugh was talking about efforts by more than a dozen Democratic senators who all voted for Obamacare, but now are lobbying against its "job-killing tax" regarding medical devices.

It was former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of course, who told Americans that Congress would have to pass the Obamacare bill so that everyone could find out what was in it.

Now the Democrats are starting to find out.

"Gutless wonders, every d--- one of them. Where were they knowing full well where this was going? Where were they before this thing passed. … Where was their courage to stand up and oppose it? They knew full well this day was coming. These people did not have to pass the bill to find out what was in it. Everybody knew what was it it.

"They're worthless now. But, now, here's the thing. I don't know whether they're gonna be able to succeed. There's 18 senators who want to defund this. Because all politics is local in this case, and now it's gonna hurt their constituents, and now that might mean it's gonna hurt their reelection, and it's gonna hurt their state economies."

According to a report in the Daily Caller, the Democrats' urgent concern now is a medical device tax of 2.3 percent.

The members of Congress sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid saying they wanted to delay the start of the tax, because, "The medical technology industry directly employs over 400,000 people in the United States and is responsible for a total of two million high-skilled manufacturing jobs … With this year quickly drawing to a close, the medical device industry has received little guidance about how to comply with the tax – causing significant uncertainty and confusion…"

The report noted that while the members of Congress may believe there's a lot of confusion, the industry is taking direct action. It reported Zimmer Holdings, which makes hip replacement implants, laid off 450 workers expecting a $60 million tax bill in 2013. And Stryker Corp., a similar company, laid off 5 percent of its employees for the same reason.

"The provision has proved to be problematic for Democratic senators from states with large numbers of medical device companies. Indiana Sen.-Elect Joe Donnelly and Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow signed the letter alongside the next Massachusetts Senate delegation, Elizabeth Warren and John Kerry, whose state is home to more than 400 medical device companies," the report said.

"So the question is, 'Well, if you rip the funding mechanism out of the law, and then you take this independent payment advisory panel and your rip them out of the law…?' That's cost containment, ostensibly. That's the bunch that determines what we're gonna spend and what we're not gonna spend. So that's cost containment. You take those two things out, how can you implement the law at all?" Limbaugh asked.

"That's where this is headed. Now, don't misunderstand. I don't expect this not to be implemented. … I'm just telling you, there are 16 senators and a bunch of these people (all of them just couldn't wait to vote for this thing) who now want to be exempted from it, folks.

"They're not going to the mat to keep you exempted. They want their own constituents and themselves exempted. That's what 'having their cake and eating it, too,' means."

"They voted for it and they got credit. Now they want to not be penalized by it," he said.

"This story isn't getting a lot of play, but it should be. Many powerful Democrats, even some of the most liberal among them, are supporting what amounts to dismantling of Obamacare, and they are using Republican language to make their case," he said.

Byron York at the Examiner noted the hypocrisy involved.

"Franken again expressed his opposition to the tax he voted for. 'I want to repeal the medical device tax altogether,' the senator and former comedian said in a statement. 'But I am concerned that we are running out of time before this job-killing tax goes into effect. So, for now, the best thing to do to ensure that this important industry continues to create jobs and produce life-saving devices is to delay this unwise tax.'"

Wrote York, "None of the senators found his or her earlier objections to the tax a sufficient reason to vote against Obamacare. … Now with Obamacare – and the taxes to fund it – about to become a reality, some of those Democrats are singing a different tune."

Townhall reported that among the Obamacare critics now are those who were the biggest supporters two years ago.

"Senators like Al Franken, D-Minn.; Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; Patty Murray, D-Wash.; John Kerry, D-Mass.; Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; and others – all of whom voted in favor of the law – are aiming to delay or outright repeal parts of Obamacare," the report said.

There already has been discussion, as Limbaugh noted, of the elimination of the "death panel" that is to limit medical services.

Combining that – a virtual unlimited top on health care – with a reduction in the funding for Obamacare would leave the American taxpayer on the hook for Obama's entire agenda, critics challenged.

"The question is without these sources of funding for all the Obamacare mandates, and without cost containment … how will the law be implemented at all?" Limbaugh wondered.

"It's all part of his plan to get everybody out of private insurance and into Obamacare administered by exchanges at the state level or the federal government," he said.