Business columnist Lee Schafer can't get St. Jude Medical officials or industry analysts to say outright that the pending medical-device tax is a job killer. Nevertheless, he's able to reach that conclusion ("St. Jude's job cuts are about device tax," Sept. 12). Yes, one analyst calls it "too big of a coincidence for it not to be a contributing factor" that expected annual savings from a company restructuring are similar to the projected cost of the 2.3 percent tax. But why not also consider lagging sales in the company's largest division or draw a comparison between the cuts and the company's last-quarter sales dip? Schafer calls it a 2 percent decline, while my calculator says 2.25 percent. Probably too small of a coincidence.
CHARLES QUIMBY, GOLDEN VALLEY
