“Why don’t we make sure that every American is treated just like we are?,†Speaker of the House John Boehner coyly demanded last night on the House floor, as the government barreled into a GOP-led shutdown.
Turns out, he actually meant something else entirely.
And it’s shocking.
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Politico is reporting that John Boehner for months has been attempting to retain what amounts to millions of tax-payer dollars in health care subsidies, paid to members of Congress and their staffs. Federal employees are paid between $5000 and $12,000 annually to subsidize their health care costs. Obamacare implementation removes those subsidies and puts Congress and their staffs on Obamacare.
“Emails and documents obtained by Politico show Boehner and his aides worked with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), among others, to find a way to maintain the long-standing employer contributions,” Talking Points Memo reports:
Those documents also show that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was aware of the behind-the-scenes talks.
In addition to those efforts, Boehner attempted to arrange a meeting with President Barack Obama to ask for help in securing the subsidies, the documents show. Although Boehner and the president never met to discuss the contributions, a senior Boehner aide was able to meet with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on the issue, according to Politico.
“Of course, helping every American to be treated just as Congress has been treated for all these years is precisely what the Affordable Care Act is all about, despite Boehner’s protestations to the contrary,” Forbes’ Rick Unger, in “Guess Who Pushed Hard For Obamacare Subsidies For Congress Before Using Those Subsidies To Shutter Government?“ writes:
While Congress has always been provided with high quality health insurance as part of its employee benefits package, the same has certainly not been true for every American, including those with no insurance whom are suddenly the subject of Speaker Boehner deeply-felt concerns.
In “Boehner Privately Fighting for Hill Staff to Still Get Health Care Subsidies,” the Atlantic adds that eliminating “the subsidies would mean essentially handing a big pay cut to (arguably already under-paid) Hill staffers”:
The average congressional staff assistant makes $29,000 per year. One GOP staffer told Mother Jones that “Congress literally threw staff under the bus on this…You’re hurting staff assistants who are sorting your mail.” Rochelle Dornatt, chief of staff to California Rep. Sam Farr, told Roll Call that she’s considering ending her 32-year Hill career. “There’s a lot of chatter among chiefs of staff, Dornatt said, “who are ready to leave if this doesn’t turn out right.”
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