Two free-market advocacy groups, Heritage Action and Club for Growth, sent a letter to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Monday urging him to “stand strong” about letting the Export-Import Bank expire.
McCarthy has said he supports allowing the bank’s current charter to expire on Sept. 30, but House leaders are reportedly considering a short-term extension of Ex-Im that would allow Congress to re-consider the issue after the November elections. (RELATED: Republicans Clash Over Export-Import Bank)
The letter reminded McCarthy of comments he made in June, when he said Ex-Im is, “something government does not have to be involved in. The private sector can do it.”
The two groups also called on McCarthy to embrace his new role as majority leader, and “provide leadership to the Republican conference and reaffirm your admirable opposition to the Export-Import Bank.”
They claim that the bank’s export subsidies “pick winners and losers in the free market and hurt companies here at home,” such as Delta, which must pay full price for Boeing aircraft while competing against foreign airlines that buy the same aircraft at a discount thanks to Ex-Im subsidies. (RELATED: Boeing, Delta Square Off on Export-Import Bank)
“An all-out public relations campaign to repair the bank’s image,” led by private corporations that benefit from Ex-Im, the letter continues. “Simply confirms what we have said all along – the Export-Import Bank is a crony-capitalist slush fund benefiting mainly politically-connected companies that receive its subsidies.” (RELATED: Is the Export-Import Bank Crony Capitalism)
“Nearly every time the government interferes in the free market,” it says. “There is a negative consequence that hurts Americans of all stripes.” Ending Ex-Im, on the other hand, would be an integral part of a strategy of “eliminating corporate welfare, passing pro-growth tax reform, reforming entitlements, and paying down the debt [that] will raise the living standards of every American.”
While acknowledging that Ex-Im “is a small thing,” the letter concludes that ending the bank would be a wise political move for Republicans. Allowing Ex-Im to expire, it says, would allow Americans to “trust the Republican Party to tackle the big challenges our nation faces after six years of President Obama and his failed policies.”
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