This is a guest post by Duane Lester, editor of The Missouri Torch and All American Blogger.
“There are also new taxes affecting West Michigan industry, in particular, that took effect this year,” says a local reporter. “There’s a new 2.3 percent excise tax on medical device manufacturers. According to some reports, Kalamazoo based Stryker has laid off more than a thousand people because of it–and owes the federal government upwards of $100 million dollars this year alone. Late last week a Stryker spokesperson told me that Obamacare will cost the company fully 20 percent of its total research and development investments.
“And although it’s no secret that drug makers like Pfizer stand to profit billions because of the increased numbers of insured Americans and the corresponding increased need for medications–they’re being hit with an excise tax as well – on brand name drugs–running in to the tens of billions of dollars.”
Hat Tip: The Weekly Standard
