EXIM Bank Fallout: GOP hold American jobs hostage, killing many, to force vote to lower Corporate Taxes.

Republicans have been amazingly upfront about their lack of concern about killing jobs. Their weird double standard doesn't even get them in trouble; state sanctioned corporate welfare is good, federal sanctioned corporate welfare is bad?

The Export Import Bank isn't really welfare either, since it just backs up loans to make trade possible, not costing taxpayers anything.

Getting their just deserts, in the heart of Republican country - Waukesha, the bleeding has begun:

Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly has sent a letter to Governor Scott Walker, House Speaker John Boehner, Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow, and the Waukesha Common Council — asking for the re-authorization of the U.S. Export-Import Bank. It’s a huge blow for the city of Waukesha
and (the loss of) 350 workers at its GE Power & Water factory, blaming Congress  The company notified employees and more than 400 U.S. suppliers of its plans. In Wisconsin alone, suppliers generate about $47 million in revenue from the Waukesha plant. GE officials are blaming the move on Congress — for failing to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank of the United States  ... “In many of the markets overseas, we must have that financing in order to even enter negotiations for contracts,” Shaun Wiggins with GE Power & Water in Waukesha said.

As I've highlighted in red, it's not corporate taxes killing the jobs in Waukesha, no matter how Walker and Paul Ryan insist it is. GE was very clear about why. If anything, this should be a lesson in spin for GOP voters. Here's what the bank does:

The Ex-Im Bank allows foreign governments and companies to get U.S.-backed loans to buy GE products ...

If the Democrats killed 350 jobs like this, you know what would have happened. But in fact, Democrats don't even have to kill jobs to be criticized for supposedly wanting to kill jobs with regulation, taxes and health care for all.

But Republicans? They can even double down in the face of actually killing jobs. In another example of Republican projection, Walker kinda admitted how his own party is using labor as pawns:

Gov. Scott Walker: “Unfortunately, I think (the jobs) are pawns in a larger political battle being played out in Washington."

Walker never saw the irony of the situation either. Walker's own mismanaged welfare program for state businesses, WEDC, doesn't even come close to the EXIM Banks reputation.

Walker couldn't get more clueless than this:

Walker: “I think it’s unwise for any corporation to be making decisions on where they place work based on one particular vote in the Congress,” the governor said.

Yea, just one vote that makes or breaks a companies ability to be a global player, that's all.

Rep. Paul Ryan doesn't care what companies are saying either. In fact, it's the same old reason Republicans oppose everything, "there are better ways..." Yea, isn't there always?

“Congressman Ryan remains opposed to the reauthorization of the Export-Import bank. He feels there are better ways Congress can promote economic growth; rather than continue with corporate welfare, we should be focused on fixing our tax code and reducing burdensome regulations, which are long term solutions to our economic woes.”

Paul Ryan "thinks" we shouldn't blame him for all the lost Jobs after he defunded the Export Import Bank. "Think" again Paul.

Here’s a little Paul Ryan “thinking” game, because thinking beats the hell out of reality.

I’m thinking there’s a reason Republicans love policy wonk Paul Ryan's corporate shilling; he's really good at it.

When GE announce the loss of 350 jobs in their Waukesha plant, they gave a very specific reason:

The company blamed Congress for its failure to reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank, an institution that finances sales of U.S. industrial equipment to overseas customers.

Now I'm "thinking” we lost those jobs because Republicans defunded the EXIM Bank.

Well, here’s what Paul Ryan thinks:

Rep. Paul Ryan said Monday he doesn't think the shuttering of the Export-Import Bank was the only reason General Electric Co. says it will stop manufacturing engines in Waukesha and move that work to Canada.

So forget what GE said, Ryan "thinks" there's another reason that coincidentally relates to something he’s working on: cutting the corporate tax rate. In fact, Ryan “can’t help but think” out loud while tearing up over the job losses corporate tax rates. WKOW:

"I think it's horrible that these workers are being laid off at GE and I can't help but think that there have to be other reasons. Canada has a 15% tax rate and we have a 35% tax rate to name one reason," 

And Canada has its own version of the EXIM Bank too, but "I can’t help but think” Ryan wants us to think otherwise.

Think he’s using the threat of job losses via EXIM to get a corporate tax cut pushed through?  

Scott Walker's "False Choice" Agenda, where nothing ever changes.

Will there ever be a moment when Republican voters realize they're being played? Didn't think so.

Scott Walker is the king of con, the "Obfuscator!" He's got nothing, and his low polling numbers prove it.

What he does have though are big bold "false choices" that don't amount to a hill of beans. The following three ideas fell into place today for me, what I would call a clarifying moment.

Ending Mass Murders: We can solve mass murders by treating the mentally ill? This is one of the weirdest false choices. I can't tell you how angry I get every time I hear a Republican throw this one out. Think of it more as somebody trying to change the subject. Enter Scott Walker...

Walker shifted the focus on Friday from gun control to mental health, saying that such incidents in Wisconsin have frequently been linked to mental health problems.

"Historically, the one constant thread has been people suffering from some degree of mental illness. In many of these cases, someone has fallen through the cracks without getting the appropriate treatment for mental health issues."

Walker's record as County Executive, pictured here, negates any changes the legislature force him to make as governor. 

The False Choice of Saving the Fetus...: Caught in the most unforgivable line of bullshit, Walker's inner sociopath came through, as he came out strongly against the life of the mother:

Gov. Scott Walker says choosing between the life of a pregnant woman and her fetus is a "false choice," adding that he believes better options are always available. "It's a false choice. There is always a better option out there. I've said for years, medically there's always a better choice than choosing between the life of an unborn baby and the life of the mother. Medically that's just a nonissue."

When asked what better medical options are available — and whether Walker believes there are no instances in which a family and doctors have to choose between the life of the pregnant woman and the life of her fetus — his campaign spokeswoman AshLee Strong repeated late Friday that he is "100% pro-life. He acknowledges what science says, and that is that an unborn child is that — a child, and deserving of protection."

Job Killing opposition to the EXIM Bank, There are "other" False Choices: My conservative friend in Milwaukee got so angry about this he called me to complain. He knew the EXIM Bank didn't cost taxpayers anything, and couldn't believe Republicans were blocking it, killing 350 jobs in Waukesha. A day later, Walker came out against the Export-Import Bank:

"I've said before as a candidate and still say so now, I do not think that the federal government should be renewing that. But I think there are other ways that we can help manufacturers like that in Waukesha and others across the state be competitive."

What does that mean? Who knows.

Walker won't blame Republicans and Rep. James Sensenbrenner for killing 350 jobs at GE.

Democrats and many Republicans in Washington support the Export Import Bank. But the tea party wing of the GOP is hoping to kill the bank completely, oddly claiming now that business handouts are a form of corporate welfare. It's like they don't see what's happening in their own red state legislatures.

For example, Scott Walker was a miserable failure as CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). So much so they had to fire him. And while loans were forgiven and lost forever, all the while many jobs were never created or outsourced, that was okay. Yet Republicans in D.C. are claiming to oppose corporate welfare? No wonder conservative voters are all over the map trying to defend their politicians.

Scott Walker was asked about General Electric's plan to kill 350 jobs in the Republican stronghold of Waukesha, moving them to Canada because they have their own EXIM Bank. Not once did Walker mention his party's opposition to EXIM, or how Republican Rep. James Sensenbrenner had a major role in killing jobs in his own district with no blowback:

Huffington Post

Big companies like GE and the many small businesses that are served by the EXIM Bank, to underwrite the sale and purchase of their products considered to "risking" by establishment banks, are pawns of extremist Republican politicians who want to kill the bank in exchange for lower corporate tax rates. Until then, tough luck folks.

That "larger political battle out in Washington" is a Republican game of chicken being played out against American labor for lower corporate tax rates. And as we've seen in GE's Waukesha plant, the family supporting American worker is losing.

On Upfront with Mike Gousha, BizTimes Milwaukee editor Andrew Weiland explained: Almost 200 businesses over the last decade have benefited from the EXIM Bank, accounting for $4 billion of export business activity:

"Job Creating" Wisconsin House Republicans and Dumb Ron Johnson...Job Killers: GE moves Waukesha plant to Canada, wiping out 350 jobs.

Republicans are to blame for losing 350 jobs in Waukesha, and probably more when you consider suppliers. This isn't on the Democrats. Thank Wisconsin GOP House members for sending 350 jobs to Canada, where economic policy is more predictable.  Here's what Paul Ryan said:

Ryan has said he opposes the bank in principle, calling it a "strange collusion of big business and big government."

Sounds like someone doesn't know what they're talking about, again. We always said this guy was no economic policy wonk...believe us now?

Blaming Congress for its failure to reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank, an institution that finances sales of U.S. industrial equipment to overseas customers, General Electric Co. says it will stop manufacturing engines in Waukesha and move that work to Canada. About 350 jobs will be lost at the Waukesha plant. 

Job creators? Think again. Opposition to the Export-Import Bank never did make any sense, and here's why:

...a limited but important role helping American companies, large and small, export their products in a global market distorted by the government credit activities of competitor nations. The bank’s overarching mission is to boost American-made exports and therein spur growth in jobs and income. 

Republicans have been exposed as "job creating" frauds. jsonline:

Critics have contended that Ex-Im exemplifies crony capitalism ... the data do not support the notion that Ex-Im’s activity is more politically driven than market oriented. While opponents of reauthorization have emphasized that only 25 percent of Ex-Im authorizations are for small businesses, that amount reflects the actual makeup of U.S. trade. Furthermore, large companies that seek Ex-Im financing often produce high-value goods such as airplanes or mining equipment, the export of which often benefits numerous small business suppliers involved in production and export.

Job Killing Republican legislative nonsense has real world consequences:

Republican members of the House blocked a reauthorization vote. 

GE says the Waukesha plant has more than 400 U.S. suppliers and, in Wisconsin alone, suppliers receive millions of dollars in revenue from the plant. "We believe in American manufacturing, but our customers in many cases require Export Credit Agencies financing for us to bid on projects. Without it, we cannot compete, and our customers may be forced to select other providers," GE Vice Chairman John Rice said in a statement.

And because conservative voters instinctively hate unions, the real impact on the community described below will be ignored:

International Association of Machinists union. spokesman Frank Larkin (said) "The Ex-Im Bank was one of those rare government programs that worked as intended: It protected American jobs and returned a profit to the U.S. Treasury. Killing the bank means thousands of U.S. jobs will be needlessly sacrificed for an extreme political agenda."

Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin's comments will also be ignored:

"The failure of the House to act is now costing Wisconsin jobs. When American businesses have a level playing field, they can compete against anyone. The Export-Import Bank is an important tool that helps us create that level playing field…”

One GOP Ex-Im Bank supporter, Rep. Reid Ribble not only echoed Baldwin, but accidentally told the truth about his party:

“It would be a withdrawal simply for ideological reasons. Conservatives have this ideology that government should leave it to the private sector, but there are types of exports where the private sector won't pick up the financing of that business," Ribble said. "Companies will be forced to leave the country and take jobs to countries where there is export-import bank financing if we don't offer it."

But Dumb Ron Johnson wants to use these continued job losses (disaster capitalism) to make his point about higher corporate taxes:

"...it is a wake-up call concerning our nation's increasingly uncompetitive tax and regulatory systems."

The LA Times wrote this today:

The decisions by GE, its second this month, and other large and small companies are paving a way to conduct business in a world without the Export-Import Bank — a world in which U.S. jobs are permanently lost. Barely two weeks ago, GE said it was shifting 500 jobs from four U.S. states to Europe and China to make the production of turbines and generators eligible for export aid from those countries.

Last month, Boeing Co., said it could lay off several hundred employees at its Southern California satellite division because a customer that needed Export-Import Bank financing canceled an order.

ProGauge Technologies Inc., a small Bakersfield manufacturer of oil industry equipment, is awaiting word on a bid for a multiyear project in the Middle East worth as much as $40 million. Chief Executive Don Nelson said that if the company wins, he will do most of the work in the unnamed nation because it would be too expensive to obtain the required delivery guarantee without the help of the Export-Import Bank.

Excuses Excuses: But conservative think tanks and ideologues are now saying businesses are always leaving the country for something, so what the heck if we lose more jobs:  

Companies move jobs out of the U.S. for many reasons, including lower taxes, said Dan Holler, a spokesman for Heritage Action for America, a conservative group that has helped lead the opposition to the bank. GE, for instance, already has 7,000 employees in Canada, a country with a much lower corporate tax rate than the U.S. has, he said.

But why listen to me, Democrats or even a few Republicans:

Milwaukee businessman Bill Maxon has no question where he stands on the issue. Maxon runs a small company that makes machines used in mixing and placing concrete. Exports account for a large percentage of his business, and he says the bank has played a part in making that happen. Maxon said he's at risk of losing a deal in Argentina because he can't get U.S. Export-Import Bank financing for the customer.

"Unfortunately our Chinese competitor is probably going to get the deal, and it's specifically related to the availability of financing," Maxon said.

Are Republicans this Desperate? Now say Democrats, not GOP, the party of Big Business.

We’re supposed to believe Republicans finally took a stand against big business, and killed off market distorter and money redistributor the Export-Import Bank.

If you aren’t already laughing than you must be a Republican. Global billion dollar businessmen David and Charles Koch were against it…gee, I wonder why, they don’t have their own market shares to protect? You think?

Since the Republicans own the title, “the party of big business,” you have to wonder why they’re doing the old switcheroo, vilifying Democrats for being in the pocket of business.  

The article “On Ex-Im Bank, the Democrats Are the Real Corporate Shills,” blasted Elizabeth Warren for supporting the Export-Import Bank, established in 1934 by FDR during the Great Depression.

But Warren offered the empty, canned defense that Ex-Im “helps create American jobs and spur economic growth,” but the truth is that the bank exists to serve the interests of a powerful few at the expense of the not-so-powerful many she claims to champion.

Of course it does, and Republicans just hate that don’t they?

They (Democrats) argue that it is the interests of small businesses that they are protecting. That could be true, provided you think that businesses with up to 1,500 employees and $21.5 million in revenue qualify are small, as the bank defines them.

Ironic isn’t it. Republicans are now willing to briefly abandon their favorite lie about supporting “small business” (not so small after all) just to say to the Democrats, “I know you are but what am I.”

But the big election year lie about our “big business” Democrats is exposed in with this short paragraph listing some of those big businesses; like green energy, saving the auto industry...etc:

They support the Department of Energy’s 1705 loans, which mostly go to wealthy energy companies (PDF), and they never fail to join Republicans in saving other corporate energy subsidies. They support Obamacare, which among other things amounts to a huge giveaway to the insurance industry. They supported the auto and bank bailouts, and for all their complaints about Wall Street, they passed a law, Dodd-Frank, that in some ways protects the big financial institutions that they claim to despise.

That last sentence is a real whopper, especially flipping the whole reason behind Dodd-Frank and why Wall Street and the GOP oppose it so ferociously.

In another article, pictured on the right, I thought this summed it up well, but in a good way (not as dupes to big business):

Republicans have ceded being the party of fiscal responsibility and the party of national security to Democrats, who have done better on both fronts in modern times. Now it seems they are hell bent on ceding “the party of business” to Democrats as well.