ATR Warns Of Job Losses If Martha Coakley Wins Massachusetts U.S. Senate Race

January 19, 2010 by Personal Liberty News Desk

A win by Democrat Martha Coakley in today’s special election to fill the Senate seat left vacated by the death of Ted Kennedy will result in the loss of thousands of jobs in the healthcare industry, according to Americans for Tax Reform.

The organization, which is a non-partisan coalition opposing all tax increases, released an analysis showing the impact of Martha Coakley’s support for the Senate healthcare bill, which contains 18 separate tax increases, including a $2 billion per year (rising to $3 billion in 2017) tax on medical device manufacturers.

The ATR cites a 2007 study by Advamed, a medical device manufacturing trade association, that found that Massachusetts depends on medical device manufacturers for nearly 22,000 jobs. It ranks second in the country behind California, and fourth as a percent of all state jobs, as one in every 150 Massachusetts workers is employed in the medical device manufacturing industry.

"Raising taxes is not free, it will cost jobs," warned ATR President Grover Norquist.

"People need to ask Martha Coakley why she wants to be the deciding vote on a government healthcare and taxes bill which will endanger 22,000 high-paying jobs in Massachusetts," he added.

Facing off against Coakley, who serves as Massachusetts Attorney General, in today’s election is Republican candidate Scott Brown, a state senator.

Polls suggest the election could be anything from a double-digit Coakley cruise to a statistical tie. Republicans last held a U.S. Senate seat in the New England state more than four decades ago, according to Reuters..

A Republican has not won a U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts since 1972.

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