WHY
WOULD CONGRESS KILL AMERICAN JOBS AT ELECTION TIME?
A
vote is scheduled to take place on the house floor in late October of
this year. The proposed legislation, if passed, would forge a pathway
for the reopening of the doors of the U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK.
What
is the U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK you ask?
The
U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK is a U.S. government agency that assists
American Businesses in providing financial and other technical
assistance to compete in global trade with an emphasis on exports of
American goods to foreign countries. During
the height of the depression, FDR pushed through the creation of an
agency as part of his NEW DEAL strategy that was designed to assist
small and medium sized American companies in their efforts to export
goods, manufactured by American workers, to overseas customers. The
U.S.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
was born. Over the next few years, and after some tinkering, the bank
was retooled in 1945 and, up until July of 2015, was the one place
American companies could access assistance in financing the
manufacturing and sale of American exports when traditional sources
of loans for production and credits for purchase of such goods were
not available in the traditional banking arenas. Presidents
throughout the years, from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan,
wholeheartedly supported this tool that was successful in making the
international markets a "more even playing field" for
American business. Just as important, the U.S.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
not only increased the bottom line of mid-American businesses, but
permitted these work horses to maintain and hire American workers. If
that were not enough, at the end of each year this modest agency,
staffed by several hundred workers, actually returned a profit to
Uncle Sam, last year writing the U.S. Treasury a check for
approximately $1 billion dollars. So the question begs, what
happened?
When
a cabal of individuals with a net worth north of $100 billion dollars
and a stable of corporations dominating the energy and manufacturing
landscape of the U.S. decides to pursue its radical extremist
political agenda, which involves the nixing of governmental
involvement in American business, you have the emergence of a
narcissistic brand of treason in the form of the Koch brothers.
Whether playing the role of king maker for jihadist candidates of the
marginal tea party or just settling old scores with mainstream GOP
party leaders and detractors, Koch Industries and its "beard"
known as "Americans for Prosperity", (the irony never
escapes me), decided early in July of this year to flex their
substantial political muscle and terminate, with extreme prejudice,
the only champion of the spirit and essence of government/private
sector cooperation, the U.S.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK.
So why did they do it?
Well,
the easy answer would be, "because they can." This would
also be the correct answer. Although Koch industries and their wholly
owned ventures were once benefactors of $16 million dollars of loans
from the U.S.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
that they closed for business, these hypocrites have the audacity and
money to demonstrate to the public that their influence does not end
at controlling the direction of social issues in conservative
America. They had to go one step further. By forcing their puppet
legislators to fail to renew its charter, the Koch machine made good
on their claim that their newly found political power extends to
American industry and, does not, indeed, end at issues relating only
to gay marriage and legislation designed to obstruct voter
registration. It is a vulgar display of power at best, and at worst
an exercise in its willingness to destroy smaller American
businesses, which make up 90% of the customers at the U.S.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK,
just to make a political point. The problem however, the great
miscalculation made, was the Koch brothers’ inability to understand
that in the process of this most Un-American activity, they neglected
to factor in the destruction of American jobs and their failure to
recognize that American workers vote, and they vote in big numbers,
the unemployed in particular, those same trampled upon workers who
live in districts represented by the Koch brothers’ puppet
congressional representatives.
Knowing
how to count votes is an essential skill in the American real
politic. For example, the great state of Texas, with the direct
involvement of the U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT
BANK,
(prior to the Koch brothers closing its doors), racked up $23 billion
dollars in export sales of American goods made by American workers.
The equally great state of California, with the direct assistance of
the late U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT
BANK,
sold in the overseas export market a total of $13 billion dollars of
American made goods, much of it generated in the agro-business and
aerospace business, and much of those goods shipped out from the port
of Long Beach, California. With the presidential election of 2016 now
in full swing, both parties must stretch their collective memories to
recall a time when a Republican nominated for President of the United
States, was victorious without carrying the state of Texas. Of equal
consideration, Democratic nominees for President must carry the great
state of, yes, California to win the coveted seat in the White House.
American workers displaced by the demise of the U.S.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK,
those that produced a total of $36 billion dollars of American
exports in Texas and California, will be lining up at the voting
booth, not only in the 2015 congressional races, but more importantly
in November of 2016 for the American Presidential election. This
reality, whether or not factored in by the Koch machine, is now
playing out as a new Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives is
sought to replace Speaker Boehner this fall.
Bakersfield,
California Congressman Kevin McCarthy was given marching orders last
July, by the Koch political colossus, to bolt the doors of the U.S.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK,
and through the smoke filled back rooms of the U.S. Congress, he did
just that. Unfortunately for Rep. McCarthy, the Republican from
Bakersfield, California, fellow Republican Stephen
Fincher from
Tennessee and Republican Congressman Steve Stivers from Ohio have led
the charge for a showdown in which, a bill, through a special
procedure known as a "discharge protocol”, is scheduled to hit
the House floor on October 26th,
2015. If it passes,
as it is predicted to do in the Senate before winding up on President
Obama's desk for his signature into law, it will result in the
revival of the United States U.S.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK.
The Obama administration, as the Kennedy and Reagan administrations
before it, supports the EXPORT-IMPORT
BANK.
If the bill is signed, among the losers will be the governments of
China and Russia who have their own worldwide Import/Export banks and
who were delighted and encouraged last July when the U.S. export bank
was closed. The winners’ bracket is said to include mainstream
American business and American workers, including those who were
scheduled to lose their jobs at Boeing and G.E. if the U.S.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
is not reopened. Finally, one last note about that list: remember the
whip that followed his marching orders from the Koch brothers, Kevin
McCarthy? It turns out that many voters in his district directly
depended upon the American Institution of the U.S.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
as they earned millions in profits, stayed in business and accessed
overseas markets with exported agricultural products. Oh, and by the
way, those products were shipped out of the U.S. in McCarthy's
neighboring congressional district by American workers punching a
time clock at a place called "The Port of Long Beach,
California."
--by
DOUGLAS CASTLE
Chairman
of Global Edge International Consulting Associates, Inc.
Labels, Tags, Keywords, Categories And Search Terms For This Op-Ed Article:
business, Koch Brothers, Export-Import Bank, unemployment, international trade, politics, economics, Douglas E. Castle, Donald Trump, GEIconsulting, exports, small business, SBA, EX-IM, financial aid, incentives, elections
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