"I see no reason why the Dems rejected the removal of the medical devices tax"

I thought libertarians and conservatives like balanced budget. The medical services tax is to help pay for Obamacare. If you remove that, what do you replace the funding with?

"they wouldn't accept having to live under the same rules as everyone else and get no special subsidy for health care"

They were uniquely forced off of their employer-provided plan onto the exchange and given a subsidy only to match the support they'd already been getting. You're demanding they and their staff get a several thousand dollar pay-cut.