Democrats Join With Republicans To Repeal Obamacare Tax, Heidi Heitkamp Nowhere To Be Found

Back during her campaign for the US Senate, the one in which she cloaked herself with the “independent” mantle while distancing herself from her party, Senator Heidi Heitkamp said that Obamacare was “good and bad” and “needs to be fixed.”

Right now there’s a bi-partisan group of Republican and Senate Democrats who want to do just that, repealing a tax on medical devices that will drive up the cost of getting health care (just another not-so-affordable aspect of the Affordable Care Act). But you know who isn’t part of that group?

“Independent” Senator Heidi Heitkamp:

Nine Senate Democrats — in a break with the party policy of blocking efforts to tinker with Obamacare — have joined with Republican colleagues to repeal a tax levied by President Obama’s health care overhaul.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., have introduced an amendment to the budget resolution to repeal the medical device tax.

“This will cost device manufacturers roughly $194 million per month and put 43,000 American jobs at risk,” Hatch said of the medical device tax yesterday after saying that “heading into its three-year anniversary, we know that ObamaCare will lead to higher health care costs, fewer jobs, and smaller paychecks for American families.” The third anniversary of the law is this Saturday. …

“We expect every Republican is going to vote for it,” a Senate Republican leadership aide told The Washington Examiner. If true, the amendment has at least 54 votes in support of repeal. (The other eight Democrats are: Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.; Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; Sen. Mo Cowan, D-Mass.; Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind.; Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn.; Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; and Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C.)

Just so we’re clear, far-left Senators like Elizabeth Warren and Al Franken have signed on to this needed bit of reform, but Senator Heidi “Independent” Heitkamp can’t?

Maybe she’s not as “independent” as North Dakota voters thought.

Update: Heitkamp did end up voting to repeal the tax, but it was a non-binding resolution.