A coalition of 30 free market and taxpayer advocacy organizations is calling for the end of the export-import bank. CF&P joined the Americans for Prosperity-led coalition in signing a letter that explains how the Export-Import Bank distorts markets and harms Americans.
Full text of 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 the Congressional Budget Office, the bank relies on obsolete accounting methods that significantly overstate its profits. When using a fair-value accounting analysis, a study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology concluded that the bank is actually losing $200 million a year. These risky loans and poor accounting practices are harmful to taxpayers, who are left footing the bill. In fact, taxpayers have already bailed out this bank once before at a cost of $3 billion.
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,
Brent Gardner, Director of Federal Affairs
Americans for Prosperity
Jim Martin, Chairman
60 Plus Association
Phil Kerpen, President
American Commitment
Al Cardenas, Chairman
American Conservative Union
Nathan Paul Mehrens, President
Americans for Limited Government
Grover Norquist, President
Americans for Tax Reform
John Tate, President
Campaign For Liberty
Tina Pisenti, Executive VP and COO
Cascade Policy Institute
Thomas A. Schatz, President
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
Andrew Quinlan, President
Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Jeffrey Mazzella, President
Center for Individual Freedom
Chris Chocola, President
Club for Growth
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
Mattie Duppler, Executive Director
Cost of Government Center
Coley Jackson, President
Freedom Action
Matt Kibbe, President and CEO
FreedomWorks
Evan Feinberg, President
GenOpp
Michael A. Needham, Chief Executive Officer
Heritage Action for America
Seton Motley, President
Less Government
Daniel Garza, Executive Director
The LIBRE Initiative
Colin A. Hanna, President
Let Freedom Ring
Lew Uhler, President
National Tax Limitation Committee
Pete Sepp, Executive Vice President
National Taxpayers Union
Andrew Moylan, Executive Director and Senior Fellow
R Street Institute
Paul Gessing, President
Rio Grande Foundation
Stephen Ellis, Vice President
Taxpayers for Common Sense
David Williams, President
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Judson Phillips, Founder
Tea Party Nation
