In her continuing attempts to distance herself from her extreme voting record in advance of a difficult reelection bid, liberal U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) has repeatedly claimed she opposes the Democrat health care law’s IRS 1099 paperwork mandate – despite her partisan votes to ram the costly, unpopular overhaul into law, and just weeks ago to prevent its repeal.

But as Politico reports, Senate Democrats are trying “to have it both ways” on the job-killing mandate, crafting a backroom amendment that will allow vulnerable Democrats like Stabenow to vote for repeal as an act of political posturing, but with no chance of the repeal actually taking effect:

Trying to thwart a Republican repeal of the health reform law’s 1099 tax reporting requirements, Senate Democrats are working on an amendment that could kill the proposal down the road…[the] amendment gives fellow Democrats cover to vote on the Johanns amendment while most likely not allowing it to go into effect.

Notably, Stabenow has specifically opposed repealing the 1099 requirement in the past – including in September and December of last year. And just weeks ago, Stabenow copied a 1099 repeal amendment previously introduced by Republican Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE), who had already secured the necessary 60 votes to move it forward, and claimed it as her own.

Of course, Stabenow could have voted to spare Michigan job creators from this onerous IRS paperwork mandate by simply voting against the health spending law’s passage, or voting to repeal the law earlier this year. But instead, Stabenow voted to ram the overhaul into law on a straight party line, and voted just weeks ago against its repeal – keeping in place the law’s $500 billion in Medicare cuts, $570 billion in tax hikes, and deficit-expanding costs as the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently estimated it will increase federal deficits by $260 billion through 2019. 

“As Senator Stabenow touts her vote in Michigan, she’ll do so knowing full well that her liberal party bosses in Washington have simply given her political cover while they try to keep their job-killing mandate in place,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Bond. “As usual, Debbie Stabenow plays political games and Michigan’s families and job creators pay the price.”

Background Information:

Stabenow Has Claimed To Support Repeal Of The 1099 Provisions:

Stabenow: “This Provision, Known As The ‘1099 Requirement,’ Forces All Business Owners To File An IRS Form 1099 For Every Vendor From Whom They Purchase Goods Valued At Over $600. … Creating An Environment Where Small Businesses Can Flourish Is A Top Priority For Me. That’s Why I Authored The Repeal Of This Onerous New Paperwork Requirement. … I Was Extremely Pleased That In This Case, Common Sense Prevailed Over Partisan Politics.” (Senator Debbie Stabenow, “Stabenow: Business Wins With Repeal Of IRS Provision On Forms,” The Detroit News, 3/17/11)