Hillary Clinton waffles on Affordable Care tax question
CHICAGO (CNN) -
Hillary Clinton may be creating a problem for herself.
In over a year on the paid speaking circuit, Clinton has addressed recyclers, bankers, doctors, environmentalists, a fair share of Canadians and a number of other diverse groups. Her paid speeches have one thing in common: They are regularly to corporate or trade groups that disagree with Clinton -- or her former colleagues in the Obama administration -- on key issues such as health care, environmental policy or taxes.
While it would be impossible for Clinton to only speak to groups that agree with her on everything, speaking to organizations that openly disagree with Democrats on certain issues has proven problematic for Clinton. The appearances open the former secretary of state up to attacks from Republicans and create situations where she appears evasive.
That was the case again Wednesday when Clinton gave the keynote luncheon talk at AdvaMed 2014, the annual conference run by the medical device industry. One of the group's top issues is getting rid of Obamacare's medical device tax, a cause Wanda Moebius, the group's spokeswoman, called their "premier issue."
Clinton, the prohibitive favorite for her Democrats' presidential nomination in 2016, was less than committal about the issue on Wednesday, though.
She didn't mention the tax by name during her prepared remarks and offered little indication one way or another what she would do about the issue when Stephen Ubl, the association's president, asked her about it during a question and answer session.
"I don't know what the right answer about the tax is," Clinton said, "but I think we could, taking a look at everything and not standing there with out arms folding staring at each other across the partisan divide, begin to sort it out."
Clinton seemed to play both sides of the issue, acknowledging the United States needs to look at "the pluses and the minuses" of the law, but also stating that she thinks medical device companies "have an argument to make" against the tax.
The medical device tax is a 2.3% excise tax created in part to fund Obamacare; it went into effect at the beginning of 2013. The tax, which is a large component in funding Obamacare, is unpopular with Democrats and Republicans alike, especially those with ties to the medical devices industry.
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Hillary Clinton waffles on Affordable Care tax question