As the House Republican leaders prepared to bring a package of tax breaks to the floor Tuesday, the Koch brothers issued a scathing condemnation of the measure and called on lawmakers to vote against the package of “corporate subsidies.”
It is unclear whether the brothers’ opposition – made public in a letter sent to members of Congress "on behalf of Koch Industries" by Philip Ellender, president of government and public affairs at Koch Companies Public Sector – will be enough to derail passage of a one-year extension of close to 50 “temporary” tax breaks.
But the strong public stance taken against the legislation by the Kochs – who have become increasingly influential supporters of Republican candidates – signals that they are prepared to derail GOP-backed legislation that they believe violates free-market principles.
Ellender’s letter,
first reported by The Washington Post, was sharply critical of the Wind Production Tax Credit, which provides an estimated $9.5 billion in annual subsidies to wind energy producers.
The credit, first enacted into law in 1992, was intended as part of an effort by the federal government “to foster and support a nascent wind energy industry,” Ellender wrote.
But “over time, like all subsidies and mandates, good intentions have led to harmful unintended consequences, turning a hand-up to an industry in its infancy into a $23 dollar-per-megawatt-hour hand-out for big companies looking to pad their bottom-line," he added.
"We oppose ALL subsidies, whether existing or proposed, including programs that benefit us, which are principally those that are embedded in our economy, such as mandates."
Although the Koch brothers and other free-market advocates have long opposed the wind credit, Republican tax aides said they “could not remember the Kochs launching such a public lobbying campaign,” the Post reported.
In an editorial published online Tuesday,
The Wall Street Journal termed the credit an “atrocity” and lamented that congressional Republicans missed an opportunity to allow it to expire at the end of last year.
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