The Associated Press (AP) is reporting Koch Industries, the evil corporation headed by Tea Party founders and funders Charles and David Koch, two of the most high-profile opponents of President Obama and his reform of healthcare, has benefitted from $1.4 million in subsidies – from the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
According to thinkprogress.org, the subsidies are from a $5 billion ACA program designed to help businesses provide coverage to those employees who are over 55 but not yet eligible for Medicare. Koch Industries, the business empire of the two brothers, applied for ACA subsidies in August 2010, along with a host of other business and industries who, while publicly opposing any change to the law, were never going to miss out on the chance to secure millions of dollars in government subsidies.
As noted by thinkprogress.org
“The Early Retiree provision resembles one passed by Republicans in 2003, which gave subsidies to employers who offered drug coverage to their retirees before the Medicare Part D program went into effect in 2006. As the New York Times explained, the goal then was the same as it is today, ‘to discourage those employers from terminating those programs, which would have saddled the government and seniors with higher costs’.”
This is not the first example of Republican hypocrisy over the Affordable Care Act. Paul Ryan has requested ACA funds for his congressional district in Wisconsin, despite having voted for its repeal on over 30 separate occasions. In a cross-party venture, Republican congressmen Vance McAllister worked alongside senators David Vitter (R) and Mary Landrieu (D) to lobby the Obama Administration to keep a healthcare enrolment call-centre in their state of Louisiana open beyond the coverage period in order to preserve over 600 jobs. Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) has even publicly encouraged families in his state to sign up for coverage in the federal exchange in an effort to save the state money.
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