Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 05-16-2012, 12:46 PM
 
Location: Old Bellevue, WA
18,782 posts, read 17,315,406 times
Reputation: 7990

Advertisements

http://www.city-data.com/forum/polit...e-welfare.html

A while back I posted about a visit by Pres. Obama to Seattle to proudly annouce his expansion of a cornerstone of crony capitalism, the US Exim bank. This is a gov't sponsored bank that loans money to customers of US companies, with the taxpayer on the hook if the loan goes bad.

Sen Mike Lee of Utah recently tried unsuccessfully to end the program. In an interview he said that it was a bi-partisan effort to get rid of this corp. welfare. He said that many Republicans opposed him, while a few Dems supported him.

Bill to reauthorize Export-Import Bank goes to president after Senate vote - The Washington Post


Time to Wind Down the Export-Import Bank - YouTube


Years ago I noticed while listening to Ralph Nader on corp. welfare, that there was a potential coalition on this issue between honest progressives like Nader, and limited-gov't types on the right. Perhaps finally somebody, namely Mike Lee, is looking to turn that into reality.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-16-2012, 12:55 PM
 
13,673 posts, read 8,973,197 times
Reputation: 10386
I read an article about this Export-Import Bank the other day. One businessman, who often depends on the bank, gave an example of what the bank does.

He said (paraphrase): Suppose I get an order from a Chinese business for a huge shipment of my product, to be fulfilled in the next week. The Export-Imiport bank allows me to get an immediate (two or three days), low cost loan, for the cost of the order. If I had to rely on a traditional bank it could take weeks or months, and I would lose the order.

Anyway, the article, as the one you linked to, notes that US businesses are in favor of keeping this Export-Import bank going; it also notes that no tax dollars are at stake.

I realize that there is some opposition to keeping this bank going, although I am not clear why. Apparently Boeing is a big reason. I had never heard of this bank until very recently.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-16-2012, 01:01 PM
 
Location: Old Bellevue, WA
18,782 posts, read 17,315,406 times
Reputation: 7990
Here is the AP story on Ex-Im reauthorization:
The Associated Press: Congress votes to reauthorize Export-Import Bank

Note that the vote in the House vote was 330-93, with all no votes coming from R's. Perhaps this provides a good index of where Congress stands on corp. welfare and crony capitalism. Less than half of republicans oppose corporate welfare, and 100% of Democrats favor it. In the Senate, it was 78-20, w/ 19 R's and Bernie Sanders (VT) opposed, so the proportions were fairly similar.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-16-2012, 01:41 PM
 
Location: Earth
17,440 posts, read 28,528,759 times
Reputation: 7477
Quote:
Originally Posted by wutitiz View Post
Here is the AP story on Ex-Im reauthorization:
The Associated Press: Congress votes to reauthorize Export-Import Bank

Note that the vote in the House vote was 330-93, with all no votes coming from R's. Perhaps this provides a good index of where Congress stands on corp. welfare and crony capitalism. Less than half of republicans oppose corporate welfare, and 100% of Democrats favor it. In the Senate, it was 78-20, w/ 19 R's and Bernie Sanders (VT) opposed, so the proportions were fairly similar.
I take it that Kucinich didn't vote, since in the past he's criticized the Eximbank. He's leaving Congress when his term is up, so perhaps he feels less bound to show up.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-16-2012, 02:14 PM
 
Location: Old Bellevue, WA
18,782 posts, read 17,315,406 times
Reputation: 7990
Yes it does appear that Kucinich did not vote.
Key Vote on Export-Import Bank Reauthorization: See How They Voted Here! | FreedomWorks

BTW he would be a good example of the potential for an alignment between progressives and limited gov't conservatives to oppose corporate welfare. Politics makes strange bedfellows.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-16-2012, 07:14 PM
 
Location: Old Bellevue, WA
18,782 posts, read 17,315,406 times
Reputation: 7990
A very loud quite from the usual suspect lefty posters on this. I suppose that either they are a) pro-corporate welfare; or b) just don't see any immediate name-calling opportunities on this thread.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top