Thursday, September 18, 2014

Boeing Doubles Down on Ex-Im Renewal

Kevin points out the ExIm Bank is going for a seven year renewal, long enough to ride out the coming outrage as their bad loans go bust.
Even the government’s own Congressional Research Service found that in FY 2010, “more than 60% of Ex-Im Bank’s loan guarantees, by dollar value, supported the sale of Boeing airplanes in foreign countries.”In fact, last year alone, Boeing received $8.3 billion in financing for its products from the Ex-Im Bank. This translates directly into sales worth roughly 10% of the company’s 2013 revenue.So while Ex-Im doesn’t really do jack squat for the economy, they’re really moving the needle for a handful of favored companies. Especially Boeing, the bank’s #1 beneficiary.And Boeing’s getting a pretty fantastic deal for it. According to OpenSecrets.org, Boeing spent $15.2 million on lobbying in 2013. For the $8.3 billion they received, that’s a 54,539% return on investment. Not too shabby.Needless to say, Boeing has a huge incentive to maintain this special relationship.That would likely explain why just in the second quarter of 2014, Boeing spent over $4.18 million on lobbying for this bill to be passed.You see, Ex-Im Bank’s charter is due to expire at the end of this month. And HR 4950 ensures that the bank will keep operating for seven more years.

I'll say it again.  USA will have to end before ExIm bank ends.  Because we cannot end ExIm Bank, USA will end.  It is a prime example of what is wrong, of negligible benefit but cannot be ended.

I'd love to be proved wrong.

Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.


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