March 9, 2012 9:53AM # House GOP Leadership Takes Brave Stand on Ex-Im… By [Sallie James](https://www.cato.org/people/sallie-james) --- SHARE …and agrees to wind down the bank *maybe in a year*. Not exactly a profile in courage. From [*The Hill* blog earlier this week](http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/banking-financial-institutions/214289-export-import-bank-splits-conservatives-big-business): > House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R‑Va.) plans to bring a bill to the floor by the end of March that could eventually end Ex-Im “subsidies.” > > > “We are working toward a bipartisan solution for the Export-Import Bank that will include reforms and **begin to set a long-term policy goal to eliminate these subsidies going forward**,” a GOP leadership aide said. “The legislation continues to be developed and we hope to consider it on the floor by the end of March.” \[emphasis added\] (More details from [Inside U.S. Trade ](http://insidetrade.com/Inside-US-Trade/Inside-U.S.-Trade-03/09/2012/house-gop-leadership-proposes-long-term-phaseout-of-ex-im-financing/menu-id-172.html)\[$\]). When Mr. Cantor says “begin to set a long-term policy goal to eliminate these subsidies going forward,” I think we can all assume that the “bipartisan solution” he is proposing would come into effect at around the same time, to quote P.J. O’Rourke, that the pope sits shiva. [As I described in a paper last year](https://www.cato.org/publications/trade-policy-analysis/time-x-out-exim-bank), the Ex-Im Bank is a perfect example of unnecessary and damaging corporate welfare, and of an agency engaging in activities in which the federal government has no business. It has been around for almost *80 years*. It’s current charter expires at the end of May, which seems like a convenient time to let it die. Why the delay, Mr. Cantor? What exactly are you waiting for? In case you missed it, the *Wall Street Journal* had a [great editorial on Ex-Im last Saturday](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204653604577249490813387030.html). And here’s [Veronique de Rugy’s take](http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/292997/why-would-anyone-be-against-export-import-bank-veronique-de-rugy). ##### Related Tags [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy), [Trade Policy](https://www.cato.org/trade-policy), [Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies](https://www.cato.org/herbert-stiefel-center-trade-policy-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).