Anyone else see this feeble attempt by the MA GOP to call out Rep Capuano in the State House News?
GOP SAYS CAPUANO FLIP-FLOPPING ON MED DEVICE TAX
Massachusetts Republicans on Thursday accused Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville), a potential rival to Sen. Scott Brown, of flip-flopping on a medical device manufacturing tax, but a Capuano aide released letters reflecting his opposition to the tax as far back as September 2009. Republican Party officials noted Capuano voted for the federal health care reform bill last year that included the new tax on medical device manufacturers but has claimed in recent days to support efforts to repeal the tax. Party officials disseminated excerpts from a Capuano interview on New England Cable News in April 2010 in which Capuano said the tax that received approval was smaller than the one originally proposed and that the tax is “not going to put them out of business.” After Sen. Scott Brown raised repeal of the tax as part of his legislative agenda this week, Capuano said he also supports repealing the tax. “Congressman Capuano would make Senator Kerry proud with this flip flop on a tax he imposed on many Massachusetts companies,” party executive director Nate Little said in a statement. “Capuano should have opposed the tax on medical device manufacturers before it became law, not afterwards.” Capuano told reporters at the State House on Monday that he did not support every aspect of the federal health care law, but supported the proposal overall. In response to the GOP criticism, Capuano spokeswoman Alison Mills said in a statement, “The Congressman finds it very interesting that he is being singled out by the Republican Party, but the facts speak for themselves, particularly in this instance when the record is so clear.”
Which leads me to my main question/discussion point. What was the real reason for this unwarranted, unprovoked, unnecessary, and overall weak cheap shot by the GOP?
As much as I may disagree with the GOP, I can’t believe anyone is this ignorant about the political process…even them. Any politician (including Sen. Brown) having to vote on any bill of this magnitude, obviously has certain things they don’t agree with, but are willing to stomach for the passage of the big picture item…in this case the healthcare bill. Cap along with every other Congressman in MA who voted yes, had issues with particular parts of the massive bill and were all very vocal (and on the record) about it. So why call someone out about something they have been very upfront about? I mean if they wanted to pick a fight…wouldn’t they go with something else, something a little more difficult to defend? I think we all know the answer to this question. But I would be interested to hear what everyone else thinks about this very weak attempt by the GOP at trying to call someone out…
david says
Looks like the crack team at MA GOP headquarters will be as much help to GOP candidates in 2012 as they were in 2010. Oh wait – I forgot, helping candidates win is not their job.
millburyman says
Seventeen seats gained in the State House. Kujo lost. The election was a success.
patricklong says
There’s nothing substantive to call Capuano out on, so they go with this.
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p>And with Scott Brown flip flopping on every issue from finreg to dadt, they need to start claiming his potential opponents are flipflopping on something, whether or not it’s true.
liveandletlive says
They must already be on the ground trying to repeat their special election anomoly in Massachusetts.
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p>We really have to fight hard to lose Scott Brown. I hope Mike gets on the airwaves and fights back on this one. We need more than a few words from his spokesperson. I would say this is worth creating a 30 second TV ad now and setting the record straight. It would help to show early on that Scott Brown has zero credibility.
howland-lew-natick says
Just for that he gets to the top of my list.
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p>“Vision without execution is hallucination.” –Thomas Alva Edison
eaboclipper says
http://www.redmassgroup.com/di…
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p>The video doesn’t lie. He downplayed medical device companies concerns in 2010, as the above April 9, 2010 post by yours truly shows.
christopher says
As the original diary points out you sometimes have to take some less desirable elements to get a bill passed. It’s only natural, and likely true, to say the things you object to are less significant than the factors that prompted you to vote for the overall bill. However, this is consistent with the reputation you’ve developed as a talking points machine.