Brendan Boyle on Free Trade

Americans compete on an unfair playing field

• End Misguided Incentives that Cost American Jobs--We have the best workers in the world, but Americans compete on an unfair playing field that has resulted in jobs being shipped to China, India, and other countries around the world. We must end tax incentives that reward companies for shipping jobs overseas.
• Raise the Minimum Wage- Hard work should be rewarded. Today an American can work full-time at a minimum wage job and still be under the poverty line. We can do better. If you work hard and play by the rules you should be able to have a wage you can live on.
• Incentivize Innovation-- A thriving 21st century economy requires great ideas and innovation. We need incentives to make it easier for entrepreneurs to pursue their ideas and spur job growth.

$25B more loans from Export-Import Bank.

This bill raises the cap on outstanding loans, guarantees, and insurance of the Export-Import Bank of the United States for FY2015-FY2022 and afterwards. The Bank shall:

• Provide technical assistance to small businesses on how to apply for financial assistance from the Bank;
• Establish programs under which private financial institutions may share risk in the loans, guarantees, and other Bank products in exchange for receiving fees received from program participants.
• The Bank may enter into up to $25 billion worth of contracts of reinsurance, co-finance, or other risk-sharing arrangements on its portfolio or individual transactions with insurance companies, financial institutions, or export credit agencies.

Opponents reasons for voting NAY: (Washington Examiner, 12/2/12): The Export-Import Bank is a taxpayer-backed agency that finances U.S. exports, primarily though loan guarantees. You'd think the bank would spread the money around to nurture up-and-coming businesses. You'd be wrong, very wrong. In fact, 83% of its taxpayer-backed loan guarantees in 2012 went to just one exporter: Boeing. Welcome to the "New Economic Patriotism," where the big get bigger and taxpayers bear the risk. Ex-Im is at the heart of Obama's National Export Initiative and is a pillar of the economic patriotism that Obama pledged in a second term. When government hands out more money, the guys with the best lobbyists and the closest ties to power will disproportionately get their hands on that money. Obama has spent four years pushing more subsidies, more bailouts and more regulations. "New Economic Patriotism" basically amounts to a national industrial policy -- Washington championing certain major domestic companies and industries, as if the global economy were an Olympic competition.