Paul Ryan rolled out the economic portion of his so-called #BetterWay agenda yesterday afternoon. In what should come as a surprise to no one, the #BetterWay is nearly identical to policies long advocated by the Koch brothers. After paying brief lip-service to small businesses, Ryan and company launched into an anti-regulatory tirade aimed at the Kochs’ favorite targets.
As House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy took the mic, he quickly attacked one of the Kochs’ most hated pieces of legislation, Dodd-Frank. The Kochs’ worked tirelessly to favorably shape Dodd-Frank as it was drafted, and have been working to undermine the legislation since its adoption. Their motivation is perfectly transparent: Koch Industries is an active player in derivatives and risk management markets, the same markets Dodd-Frank seeks to bring to heel.
Majority Whip Steve Scalise turned his ire on the Department of Labor’s overtime regulations, claiming that they’re “directly responsible for costing thousands of people their chance at the American Dream.” Apparently Rep. Scalise’s version of the American Dream is making less than a living wage. Unsurprisingly, Scalise’s view of the American Dream is perfectly aligned with the Kochs’. Their primary political front, Americans for Prosperity sent a letter to members of Congress calling on them to support, “all efforts to defund, block and otherwise nullify” the Department of Labor’s overtime proposal.
The most laughably cynical performance at the #BetterWay economic roll-out went to Wyoming Representative Cynthia Lummis. She, without a hint of irony, invoked Rachel Carson’s seminal work Silent Spring–which was critical in leading to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency–to trash federal environmental regulation. Yet again, Ryan’s team was in lockstep with the Kochs’. Charles Koch has called the federal approach to environmental regulation “counterproductive,” claiming that it has the effect of “stifling innovation.“
There was no space today between GOP House leadership and the Koch brothers. Every major point of the #BetterWay economic agenda is perfectly aligned with the Kochs’ radical anti-regulatory agenda. In service to the American people and for the sake of simplicity, Speaker Ryan should consider changing the name of his program from #BetterWay to #KochWay–there is no difference.