KOCH DOCUMENT REVEALS LAUNDRY LIST OF POLICY VICTORIES EXTRACTED FROM THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION seen progress on many regulatory priorities this Network has championed for years,” the memo notes. The documenthighlights Charles Koch David Koch environmental issues that the I N T H E B A C KD R O P of Koch brothers have long a chaotic first year of Donald worked to undo, such as the Trump’s presidency, the EPA Clean Power Plan, which conservative Koch brothers is currently under the process of have won victory after victory being formally repealed, and in their bid to reshape Trump’s withdrawal from the American government to their Paris Climate Agreement, interests. among their major Documents obtained by The accomplishments. The memo Intercept and Documented also highlighted administration show that the network of efforts to walk back planned wealthy donors led by rules to strengthen the estate tax billionaire industrialists Charles in a list of 13 regulatory and David Koch have taken decisions favored by the credit for a laundry list of network. policy achievements extracted The network’s political from the Trump administration operation includes a polling and and their allies in Congress. research outfit, Capitol Hill The donors have pumped lobbyists, several hundred field campaign contributions not staff, groups designed to air only to GOP lawmakers, but campaign ads, and an also to an array of third-party assortment of grassroots groups organizations that have set up to appeal to certain pressured officials to act swiftly constituencies. The LIBRE to roll back limits on pollution, Initiative is a network group approve new pipeline projects, geared toward selling Koch and extend the largest set of policy ideas to Latino upper-income tax breaks in communities. Generation generations. Opportunity works to reach out “This year, thanks in part to to millennials and college research and outreach efforts students; Veterans For America across institutions, we have
for veterans and militaryminded voters. To win support for the Republican tax legislation, the Koch network claims that it organized over 100 rallies in 36 states, contacted over 1.8 million activists, and knocked on over 33,000 doors. The group also spent freely on digital and television advertisements, with $1.6 million in TV spots to support the legislation in Wisconsin alone. As The Intercept previously reported, the Koch network told its surrogates to downplay concern over the deficit, a major issue they raised during the Obama administration, in order to convince lawmakers to support the package. Days after the tax bill passed, Charles Koch and his wife donated $500,000to Speaker Paul Ryan’s joint fundraising leadership PAC, which has a heightened threshold for donations. Despite some public antagonism over Trump — including flirtations with replacing him as the nominee with Ryan at the Republican National Convention — the
Koch brothers have enjoyed incredible access with his administration. The president’s lawyer, Don McGahn; the president’s chief liaison to Congress, Marc Short; and the president’s counselor, Kellyanne Conway all previously worked for the Koch network before taking their current positions in the White House. Ethics forms reveal that officialsacr oss the government, including at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, previously served at Koch think tanks or other Koch groups. Vice President Mike Pence also maintains a very close relationship with the Koch brothers. The Koch brothers are also hoping to fundamentally reshape other aspects of American society, including labor unions and the judiciary . The memo details efforts to weaken the power of labor unions, including a broad attack on private sector labor unions in states controlled by Republicans in 2017. ….Read More Note: We now have a Government by the rich, and for the rich.
Refusing To Work For Medicaid May Not Translate To Subsidies For ACA Plan Work requirements for Medicaid coverage. Insurance plans that don’t meet health law standards. Changes to Medicare drug lists. As the ground continues to shift on health care coverage, I answer readers’ queries this week about these three different types of plans. Q: I’m in a state that is looking into work requirements for Medicaid. At sign-up time, can I simply tell
the exchange that I intend to be ineligible for Medicaid by refusing to work and get the premium tax credit to buy a private plan on the insurance marketplace? Federal health law regulations don’t clearly address the situation you describe, but the short answer is probably not, said policy analysts. In general, people who are eligible for Medicaid — the federal-state health program for low-income people — or employer coverage can’t qualify
for federal tax credits that help pay for premiums on plans sold on the health insurance exchanges. This year, Kentucky and Indiana became the first states to receive federal approval to require some Medicaid recipients to put in 80 hours each month at a paid job, school or volunteer work, among other activities, to receive benefits. Nearly a dozen other states have made similar requests. If you refuse to work, does that make you ineligible for
Medicaid? The rules aren’t clear, said Judith Solomon, vice president for health policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. States might argue that someone in your situation is eligible for Medicaid, you just have to fulfill the work requirements, said Timothy Jost, an emeritus professor of law at Washington and Lee University in Virginia who is an expert on the health law. ...Read More
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