WASHINGTON (AP) — They were calling it the tax on Q-tips.Amid Republican ridicule, a Democratic chairman backed down Tuesday and exempted consumer items of $100 or less — from condoms to contact lenses — from a proposed tax on medical device manufacturers. It would help pay for health care coverage for the uninsured in comprehensive legislation.But Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., left intact a $4 billion-a-year levy on the medical devices industry, which makes everything from heart valves to imaging machines to tongue depressors. This week the committee is voting on the Baucus plan, a 10-year, nearly $900 billion proposal to remake the health care system.