Coalition of 50+ Orgs to Congress: Let the Export-Import Bank Expire
On April 21, 2014, the Club for Growth and 52 other organizations wrote to Members of Congress urging them to oppose reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. Here is the letter:
Dear Members of Congress:
On behalf of our groups and organizations, together representing millions of Americans, we urge you to oppose the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. It unfairly hurts domestic companies and risks billions of taxpayer dollars.
By paying foreign companies to buy American exports, the Export-Import Bank tilts the playing field away from mid-sized and small businesses in favor of large, politically connected corporations. The Airlines for America, for example, estimates that the bank’s recent loans to foreign airlines have killed as many as 7,500 jobs for domestic airlines in the United States. Eliminating the Export-Import Bank would level the playing field and allow U.S. companies to compete for business on their merits rather than the strength of their political ties to the bank.
Not only does the Export-Import bank interfere with the free market, it also jeopardizes billions of taxpayer dollars. According to a 2014 report from the Congressional Budget Office the bank will costs taxpayers $2 billion over the next decade despite claims that it pays for itself. This discrepancy is because the bank does not use fair-value accounting, a method widely used by private finance organizations. These risky loans and poor accounting practices are harmful to taxpayers, who are
left footing the bill.
America deserves an international trade policy that is based on free-market mechanisms, not paying foreign companies to buy exports from large corporations with political connections. We, the undersigned organizations, urge you to oppose reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank.
Sincerely,
David McIntosh, President
Club for Growth
Brent Gardner, Vice President of Government Affairs
Americans for Prosperity
Marc Short, President
Freedom Partners
Jim Martin, Chairman
60 Plus Association
Susan A. Carleson, Chairman/CEO
American Civil Rights Union
Phil Kerpen, President
American Commitment
Dan Schneider, Executive Director
American Conservative Union
Sean Noble, President
American Encore
Thomas J. Pyle, President
American Energy Alliance
Coley Jackson, President
Americans for Competitive Enterprise
Peter J. Thomas, Chairman
Americans for Constitutional Liberty
Richard Manning, President
Americans for Limited Government
Grover Norquist, President
Americans for Tax Reform
Scot Mussi, President
Arizona Free Enterprise Club
John Tate, President
Campaign For Liberty
Kristin Fecteau, Co-Founder
Campaign to Free America
Tina Pisenti, Executive VP and COO
Cascade Policy Institute
Tom Brinkman Jr., Chairman
Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST)
Lawson Bader, President
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Pete Hegseth, CEO
Concerned Veterans for America
Chris Prandoni, Interim Executive Director
Cost of Government Center
Thomas A. Schatz, President
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
L. Brent Bozell III, Chairman
ForAmerica
Matt Kibbe, President and Founder
FreedomWorks
Evan Feinberg, President
Generation Opportunity
Michael Scupin, Vice President
Georgia Grassroots Coalition
Michael A. Needham, Chief Executive Officer
Heritage Action for America
Mario H. Lopez, President
Hispanic Leadership Fund
Kimberly Fletcher, President & Founder
HomeMakers for America Inc.
Carrie Lukas, Managing Director
Independent Women’s Forum
Heather Higgens, President and CEO
Independent Women’s Voice
Andrew Langer, President
Institute for Liberty
Seton Motley, President
Less Government
Colin A. Hanna, President
Let Freedom Ring
Dee Hodges, President
Maryland Taxpayers Association
Amy Ridenour, Chairman
National Center for Public Policy Research
Lew Uhler, President
National Tax Limitation Committee
Pete Sepp, President
National Taxpayers Union
Gov. Gary Johnson, Honorary Chairman
Our America Initiative
Kimberly Wold, Executive Director
Prosper
Andrew Moylan, Executive Director and Senior Fellow
R Street Institute
Mike Stenhouse, CEO
Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Paul Gessing, President
Rio Grande Foundation
William Whipple III, President
Secure America’s Future Economy
Teri Christoph, Director of Digital Media
Tami Nantz, Co-founder
Smart Girl Politics
Stephen Ellis, Vice President
Taxpayers for Common Sense
David Williams, President
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Judson Phillips, Founder
Tea Party Nation
Brett Healy, President
The John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy
Daniel Garza, Executive Director
The LIBRE Initiative
Morton Blackwell, Chairman
The Weyrich Lunch
Carl Bearden, Executive Director
United for Missouri
Rose Bogaert, Chair
Wayne County Taxpayers Association