As the debate opens on the Continuing Resolution (“CR”) which Congress must pass to keep the government running, and as the Beltway GOP (well, most of it) wakes up to implications of the example of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., fighting with argument and reason, two political fronts are open to Hill Republicans. They should fight hard on both of them.

First, the GOP must target and win something in the CR battle, and the best candidate is the repeal of the destructive, almost suicidal tax on medical devices. This 2.3 percent tax, a provision of Obamacare, adds to the price of almost every medical device, from bedpans to replacement joints. Although it is expected to raise $30 billion in receipts over a decade, it is already ravaging an industry in which the U.S. is and should remain a leader. There is bipartisan support to repeal this foolish tax, and the GOP ought to be using it as an illustration of how taxes kill jobs even as it moves its repeal through the CR.