You know, when I first saw this…
…well, the first thing that I thought was Actually, I wouldn’t mind Ariel Stryker going to fetch Edward Snowden and getting him in front of an American grand jury. But you have to expect a certain amount of that sort of thing from hard-shell libertarians; live and let live, says I. So I guess that the second thing that I thought was Killing the Export-Import Bank is probably not gonna happen.
But I’m not entirely sure, now.
With the 80-year-old agency’s charter expiring Sept. 30, the battle over its future has intensified. Its backers are redoubling their efforts, which include showing members of Congress how the agency benefits their districts.
[snip]
The opposition is coming from some influential critics, including Rep. Jeb Hensarling, (R., Texas), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over the bank, and the incoming House majority leader, Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.), who recently declared his opposition to the reauthorization—a reversal from his 2012 vote backing the bank the last time it was reauthorized.
Two conservative groups, Heritage Action for America and Club for Growth, are expected to make reauthorizing the agency a “key vote” the groups will use in their annual ratings of lawmakers, as they did in 2012.
Having Hensarling and McCarthy on-board against the Bank is a pretty big deal; theoretically all they have to do is nothing and the institution will go away on its own. ‘Theoretically’ is the operating term; as a practical matter they might have to allow a vote, if the opposition gets enough support. Which is a really, really good reason why my readers should contact their Member of Congress and give their opinion on the subject (whether pro or con). And this is one time where it doesn’t matter if said Congressman is a Democrat; if momentum builds against the Export-Import Bank, the Democrats will be under a lot of pressure, from both sides of the discussion.
Moe Lane
Sadly, my congresscritter took a firm stand on this during the primary. His platform was “the pork, the whole pork, and nothing but the pork”. He won buy 23 points.
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(The typo wasn’t initially intended, but it’s appropriate, so I left it.)
I have one question for the ExIm proponents:
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http://youtu.be/lkFCiFvTVt8
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Mew
A slightly shorter version: http://youtu.be/2SoWNMNKNeM
Seriously, I get that *at one historic point over 80 years ago* there was a use for ExIm.
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Now, though .. what *does* it do that the private sector *cannot* do better?
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Mew
*Gator staggers into thread, then falls to the floor face first. There is a knife in his back with a note attached to the knife which reads: “COFFEE!”*
*sips coffee*
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Mew