For years the Export-Import Bank, a federal agency that subsidizes loans for corporations that export goods and services, enjoyed broad bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. But now that the Tea Party is forcing Republicans to stay true to their free market principles, Democrats see an opening to divide the party on job creation.
Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Jump-Start Our Business Start-Ups Act (JOBS Act) by a 390-23 margin. The bill makes it easier for small businesses to obtain capital and frees them from regulations for a couple of years after going public. Sounds like a bi-partisan winner. But the bill is the project of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Senate Democrats are desperate to deny Republicans a victory on job creation.
Enter Majority Leader Harry Reid’s, D-Nev., announcement yesterday that he will attach a four-year renewal of the U.S. Export-Import to the JOBS Act in the Senate. The pro-corporate welfare wing of the Republican Party, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, has always been supportive of the Export-Import Bank, which guarantees loans and other financing arrangements for corporations that do business overseas. But the new Tea Party wing of the Republican Party is solidly against the agency.
RedState, National Review, Cato, and The Heritage Foundation have all taken strong stances against Export-Import Bank reauthorization. As The Washington Examiner’s Tim Carney has explained, it is a quintessential example of “venture socialism.” Heritage Action even key voted a vote against the Export-Import Bank earlier this week.
This is exactly why Reid wants to attach the Export-Import bank to Cantor’s bill. They want to force House and Senate Tea Party Republicans to vote against their own party’s jobs bill.
This may cause some short-term embarrassment for the House Republican leadership, but in the long-term this tactic will backfire on Reid. The more Republicans are forced to take tough votes against tempting corporate welfare programs now, the more solidly Republicans will be committed to true free market principles in the future.
Republicans will never be the party of big government/compassionate conservatism again.
