Screenshot of ad run against Medicaid expansion in Wyoming
The Koch brothers have made defeating Medicaid expansion wherever possible a primary goal, and have groups active in a number of states. In Maine, it's the Koch-affiliated
Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA). In Tennessee, it's the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity, which scored
a victory by denying Medicaid to more than 200,000 Tenneseeans. Add
Wyoming to their win column. Late Friday, the Wyoming Senate rejected a plan that Gov. Matt Mead (R) had been pushing the expansion, despite a
campaign the FGA started in December.
As Wyoming lawmakers consider an alternative Medicaid expansion proposal, the Foundation for Government Accountability is running a radio spot and sponsoring a petition calling on people to “Stand with Mead.” But the version of Republican Gov. Matt Mead they’re referring to is the staunch Obamacare opponent of the past — not the Mead of the present, whose health department devised the expansion plan.
The group wants to keep Mead’s past “fresh in his mind” and activate public opposition to any expansion. “We’re honestly slightly confused as to why a strong conservative governor would be trying to push a plan that most of his constituents don’t support,” said the FGA’s Charles Siler.
The FGA
was triumphant in this press release, trumpeting their wins in both Tennessee and Wyoming. This group isn't one of the groups directly under the Koch umbrella, but like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), is included in the labyrinthian
web of groups where Koch and other money is funneled. The FGA
received "$108,150 from the State Policy Network (SPN), an ALEC-founded and Koch-funded umbrella group for state-level conservative organizations of which both FGA and MHPC are affiliates. They also received $25,000 from the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, another group with close ties to the Kochs."
So even in deep, deep red Wyoming, the Kochs are working to make sure no Republican politician escapes their clutches and does something that might benefit the people.