Ex-Im Bank: Crony Capitalists on the Defensive

It’s

increasingly plausible that Congress will refuse to
reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, one of the nation’s most
notorious
spigots for corporate welfare. Killing it would put only a
small dent in the corporate state, but it’ll still be a real dent—a
genuine victory in the battle against business subsidies.

Even if we end up losing this, it’s fun to see the K Street
crowd on the defensive, with figures from
Bill Clinton to
Rick Perry rushing to defend the program. The fact that

many Republicans have not just joined but are
suddenly leading the anti-bank chorus has the lobbyists
flummoxed. (I especially enjoyed seeing the former head of the
National Association of Manufacturers
suggest today that “Conservatives in Congress can find other
ways to express their ideology.” Go get a hobby, boys!)

Does this struggle reflect a deeper strain of public cynicism
about state-corporate cooperation? Maybe. Here’s an
intriguing Rasmussen
poll from April:

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds
that 32% of American Adults believe the United States has a system
of free market capitalism, while just as many (31%) say it is a
system of crony capitalism. Slightly more (37%) are not sure what
kind of capitalist system America has.

Sentiments like that have potentially combustible
consequences.