Subsidized exporters are flooding Capitol Hill today to lobby for renewal of the Export-Import Bank, a federal agency that extends taxpayer-backed financing to foreign buyers of U.S. goods. I posted the talking points prepared by the “Ex-Im Coalition” hosting this lobby day. Below I address the arguments they make.

1. The Ex-Im lobby argues the agency doesn’t count as “corporate welfare,” but it never explains why not. Instead, the exporters just point out that Ex-Im helps them, and they say it doesn’t cost the taxpayer money. But most corporate welfare in the U.S. is off-budget — consider the ethanol mandate, or the sugar program, which are inarguably corporate welfare. They profit their beneficiaries and impose their costs on the economy through distortions, just as Ex-Im does.