How To Fight The Ex-Im Bank

In politics, words can be dangerous weapons. The terms we use can either accurately or inaccurately reflect what the government is up to. George Orwell understood this better than anyone, and his essay “Politics and the English Language” is a great denouncement of the abuse of words at the hands of the political class. Though he was writing at the end of World War II, Orwell’s criticism still rings true today. In the age of around-the-clock news and easily digestible sound bites, political speech and writing have largely become “the defense of the indefensible.”

The ongoing debate in the United States over the merits of the Export-Import Bank – a government institution that makes loans to governments and private companies abroad to boost domestic exports – exemplifies this tug-of-war between language.The D.C. lobbying cabal and its puppets in Congress are staunchly defending the institution as a job-creator and economic necessity. A handful of free market organizations are attacking the bank for being a deliberate form of crony capitalism. For years, the intrepid Tim Carney of the Washington Examiner has led the fight to dismantle the Ex-Im Bank, calling out the unfair advantage given to companies like Boeing through government-backed underwriting. His efforts finally appear to be gaining steam. Newly elected House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has indicated his support for allowing the charter of the Bank to expire come the end of September. All the lower chamber of Congress has to do is sit on their laurels and the relic of the New Deal era will finally begin to unravel.

Of course, special interests in Washington aren’t going down without a fight. A well-financed lobbying effort is pulling levers behind the scenes to make sure the Bank remains functional. The goal is to convince the American people that the Ex-Im Bank promotes the national interest. Using buzz phrases like “investment at home” and “creating jobs,” the strategy is to obfuscate their true agenda: preserving the trough from which they feed.

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