The Koch brothers poured millions into the GOP campaign treasure chest in the 2014 midterms. And now, the newly elected GOP majority is repaying their investors by installing Koch cronies in posts across Capitol Hill. Last week, the Republicans appointed Koch ally, Keith Hall, to serve as the director of Congressional Budget Office. In theory, the Congressional Budget Director analyzes the economic impact of congressional proposals absent any ideological bent. But if you check out Hall’s record, his Koch-funded bias is all too clear.
Prior to his appointment, Hall worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Institute, which is one of the dozens of free-market, anti-regulatory policy shops that the Kochs have bankrolled. The Mercatus Institute has churned out reports arguing for the privatization of Social Security; fingering public employee unions for causing state budget crises; attempting to debunk climate science; and making the case for slashing the welfare system and Medicaid. And in 2001, Mercatus recommended 14 of the 23 federal rules targeted on the new Bush administration’s regulatory “hit list.” Hall has criticized proposals to raise the minimum wage, expand regulation and boost anti-poverty programs and he has been a vocal opponent of the Affordable Care Act. He has also publicly condemned efforts to combat joblessness through increased government spending. “Throwing more government dollars at this problem won’t solve it,” he said.This is latest move since the midterms that demonstrates just how deeply entangled the GOP and Koch-world are. Joni Ernst hired her chief-of-staff away from the Koch-backed NFIB, Mitch McConnell’s new policy director formerly lobbied for Koch Industries, and Tom Cotton’s spokesman is the new director for Americans for Prosperity-Arkansas. CBO directors are chosen jointly by the heads of the House and Senate Budget Committees so there will be no vote or confirmation on Hall. It’s getting harder and harder to separate the Koch shills from the GOP.