Ted Cruz calls them out on the floor

[1ViciousGSX]

I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt and watch the whole thing. I absolutely cringe at the outright hypocrisy of Cruz. He uses corporate cronyism as his excuse all the while he is MARRIED TO A MANAGING DIRECTOR OF GOLDMAN SACHS! His wife was a Vice President there during the crash and during their $10 BILLION BAILOUT.

He's part of what he's calling a problem. Who the fuck knows if the import/export bank is bad, I sure don't. Maybe it is, maybe it's not. I would bet though that getting rid of it would benefit Goldman Sachs.

You do realize that dems are still in control, right? Do you know why? It's because Obama can veto any bill that comes in front of him. If Congress truly want to pass a bill, they have to make sure it's one he'll sign. A veto override requires each chamber to vote again and 2/3rd's need to be in favor for it to pass.

His wife doesn't work there anymore, she quit. Guess you didn't know that? Or that Cruz opposed the bailouts. Guess you didn't know that either? Even so, Cruz didn't write any checks for GS, that was Bush/Obamator. On top of that, Cruz wasn't even a senator until 2012, 2 years after the bailouts. So how does that make him a hypocrite? And I'm sure the only reason GS took the bail out was because Cruz's wife made them, right? She must have put a gun to the heads of the board of directors, right?

The IM/EX Bank has nothing to do with GS. It was used to subsidize big corporations (Boeing, etc.) with your tax dollars. It was also used to give other countries money that would be used to buy American made products. Just so you understand, your government gave your tax dollars to foreign countries to use to buy American made products, using your tax dollars. The IM/EX Bank was closed for a while and we survived without it just fine. Thanks to McConnel, it's being funded again.

There are ways to get a president to sign a bill he doesn't like, you call him out on it in the public eye, make him have to sign it. Or you keep pushing it back into both houses until it either passes or he decides to sign it. Obama is a want to be dictator,...

Still going after the messenger, regardless of the message. I guess in your eyes what McConnel did was OK.

[jeremy1375]

The import export bank didn't close as it continued to maintain it's current portfolio. It just couldn't take on new loans during that time. Wikipedia describes the import/export bank as " the bank finances and insures foreign purchases of United States goods for customers unable or unwilling to accept credit risk." You use words like "subsidize", and "give away" money. Do you have evidence of this?

Republicans used up all their bullets by continuously threatening government shut downs. If they want a chance at taking the presidency and holding both houses, they can't do that anymore. They have to pass bills to show they can do their job.

I have zero problem with how Mitch McConnell handled things. That is politics.

This article says Heidi Cruz took unpaid leave, not quit. Whatever the case, she is integrated with the too big to fail (aka - tax payer subsidized) banking world

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-23/cruz-s-wife-heidi-said-to-take-unpaid-leave-from-goldman

[jeremy1375]

-President Ronald Reagan, January 30, 1984: "Exports create and sustain jobs for millions of American workers and contribute to the growth and strength of the United States economy. The Export-Import Bank contributes in a significant way to our nation's export sales."

-Over the past two decades, the Bank has generated nearly $7 billion more than the cost of its operations. That's money EXIM Bank generates for the American taxpayer, to help reduce the federal deficit.

-Small business exporters need certainty and protection to tackle new markets, expand and create jobs. In FY 2014, nearly 90 percent of EXIM Bank's transactions—more than 3,340—directly supported American small businesses.

http://www.exim.gov/about/facts-about-ex-im-bank

[1ViciousGSX]

The import export bank didn't close as it continued to maintain it's current portfolio. It just couldn't take on new loans during that time. Wikipedia describes the import/export bank as " the bank finances and insures foreign purchases of United States goods for customers unable or unwilling to accept credit risk." You use words like "subsidize", and "give away" money. Do you have evidence of this?

Republicans used up all their bullets by continuously threatening government shut downs. If they want a chance at taking the presidency and holding both houses, they can't do that anymore. They have to pass bills to show they can do their job.

I have zero problem with how Mitch McConnell handled things. That is politics.

This article says Heidi Cruz took unpaid leave, not quit. Whatever the case, she is integrated with the too big to fail (aka - tax payer subsidized) banking world

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-23/cruz-s-wife-heidi-said-to-take-unpaid-leave-from-goldman

So you are OK with a party leader lying to his party on purpose to sell them and you out?



http://mercatus.org/publication/biggest-beneficiaries-ex-im-bank

http://mercatus.org/sites/default/files/C1-Total-Assistance-large.png

The first chart displays the top ten exporter beneficiaries for all combined Export-Import Bank interventions during FY 2013. The chart shows that the Bank truly lives up to its nickname, “Boeing’s Bank (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCkQFjAA&url=http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/375211/lexington-institutes-weak-defense-boeings-bank-veron).” Boeing was by far the biggest exporter beneficiary of all Bank activity, raking in over $8 billion in assistance during FY 2013.

The Bank’s second top overall exporter beneficiary is alarming: the Bank’s data simply lists several exporters as “Unknown.” A later chart shows that most of these unidentified exporters benefit from insurance assistance. At least for now, almost $3 billion in Ex-Im activity cannot be accounted for with this dataset.

http://mercatus.org/publication/top-foreign-buyers-us-exports-subsidized-export-import-bank

http://mercatus.org/sites/default/files/top-ten-primary-country-industry-table_0.jpg

The number one buyer was the Mexican state-owned petroleum company, Pemex, which has a market capitalization of $416 billion but has somehow needed more than $7 billion in US-taxpayer-backed financing to facilitate deals with American exporters in recent years. Such assistance from the federal government to Pemex, along with other oil companies on the list, raises eyebrows, particularly considering that the current administration, which supports the reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank, hasn’t exactly been pro-fossil fuels.

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/07/facts-about-the-export-import-bank

Ex-Im Subsidies Threaten U.S. Jobs




The bank funnels billions of taxpayer dollars each year to overseas businesses for the purchase of American products. These subsidies put U.S. firms at a competitive disadvantage. Ex-Im financing of coal mining in Colombia, copper excavation in Mexico, and airplanes for India has been identified as contributing to job losses among domestic companies.
Ex-Im officials fail to properly consider the impacts of export subsidies on American workers and the businesses that employ them. The Ex-Im Inspector General concluded that the bank’s analyses ignored economic impacts contemplated by the Ex-Im charter and omitted relevant data.

Ex-Im Puts Taxpayers at Risk



All Ex-Im financing is backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government. Taxpayer exposure will exceed $140 billion by the end of FY 2014.
The Congressional Budget Office recently reported that Ex-Im will operate at a deficit of $2 billion in the next decade (in addition to the bank’s operating costs).
The Inspector General has concluded that the bank lacks sufficient policies to prevent waste, fraud and abuse, and has inadequate risk management policies and recordkeeping. Ex-Im Benefits Unfriendly Nations
Ex-Im subsidies benefit China, Venezuela, Cuba, and Russia. State-owned foreign airlines have received $16 billion in subsidized financing since 2009.

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/06/exportimport-bank-cronyism-threatens-american-jobs

The Export–Import Bank (Ex–Im) funnels billions of taxpayer dollars each year to overseas businesses for the purchase of American products. This subsidized financing is supposedly a win-win proposition for exporters and their customers abroad. But rare is a subsidy that does not produce disparity elsewhere. In the case of Ex–Im, the losers include domestic companies that are left to compete against foreign firms bankrolled by the U.S. government.

[jeremy1375]

The controversy over the EXIM bank is making a mountain out of a mole hill. Just about every other country at our level has an equivalent. On balance, it has been profitable for the U.S. taxpayer. The whole argument over it is theoretical and ideological, not based on any real problems it's causing.

[jeremy1375]

Let's explore the importance of this issue further and it's actual impact on the annual budget. The CBO projections for the EXIM bank are a $2 billion loss for one accounting method and a $14 billion profit using a different method for the next decade. If we assume the absolute worst which isn't the norm in it's 85 year history, that would be a loss of $200 million a year. That would be roughly 0.005% of the annual US budget. To put that into perspective, that would be $2.50 to a person with a $50k annual budget. Tell me why more than 0.005% of time is being spent on the matter and why anyone thinking about the big picture should care.

The entire issue is another symbolic yet meaningless fight sponsored by the Tea Party.

[jeremy1375]

"Boeing Says Ex-Im Bank Demise May Force It Offshore"

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2015/07/29/boeing-says-ex-im-bank-demise-may-force-it-offshore/

After reading what the EXIM bank does and how it will be more difficult for U.S. businesses to compete with countries that have one when we don't, I can see that it would be stupid to get rid of it.

The house hasn't approved it yet and it may fight it, but it will have no other choice than approving the senate bill. These people who are trying to get rid of it are fucking stupid.

[jeremy1375]

I must say things are playing out for an exciting fall. Mark Meadows filed a motion to unseat Boehner and the House passed a 3 month transportation bill that excluded EXIM bank language - and then went on summer recess.

It sounds like Republicans are getting ready for another Shut Down showdown in the fall. The plan appears to be to defund Planned Parenthood. With House leadership being challenged, will the Republicans be able to keep their shit together? Stay tuned...

[1ViciousGSX]

Would that be another one of those preplanned fake shutdowns like the last time when the parks and monuments were closed?

But back to our regularly scheduled deflection of the real issue on Mitch McConnel lying to his own party to push through a bill,......

[jeremy1375]

Cruz's aides told him McConnell was lying and he chose to ignore them. He misread the political strategy and then broke senate protocol by calling McConnell out. Instead of owning up to his mistake, he cried like a bitch.

On the issue of the shut down - remember how the U.S. credit rating got hit for playing chicken with a default? Here we go again...