Skip to main content
Menu

Main navigation

  • About
    • Annual Reports
    • Leadership
    • Jobs
    • Student Programs
    • Media Information
    • Store
    • Contact
    LOADING...
  • Experts
    • Policy Scholars
    • Adjunct Scholars
    • Fellows
  • Events
    • Upcoming
    • Past
    • Event FAQs
    • Sphere Summit
    LOADING...
  • Publications
    • Studies
    • Commentary
    • Books
    • Reviews and Journals
    • Public Filings
    LOADING...
  • Blog
  • Donate
    • Sponsorship Benefits
    • Ways to Give
    • Planned Giving

Issues

  • Constitution and Law
    • Constitutional Law
    • Criminal Justice
    • Free Speech and Civil Liberties
  • Economics
    • Banking and Finance
    • Monetary Policy
    • Regulation
    • Tax and Budget Policy
  • Politics and Society
    • Education
    • Government and Politics
    • Health Care
    • Poverty and Social Welfare
    • Technology and Privacy
  • International
    • Defense and Foreign Policy
    • Global Freedom
    • Immigration
    • Trade Policy
Live Now

Blog


  • Blog Home
  • RSS

Email Signup

Sign up to have blog posts delivered straight to your inbox!

Topics
  • Banking and Finance
  • Constitutional Law
  • Criminal Justice
  • Defense and Foreign Policy
  • Education
  • Free Speech and Civil Liberties
  • Global Freedom
  • Government and Politics
  • Health Care
  • Immigration
  • Monetary Policy
  • Poverty and Social Welfare
  • Regulation
  • Tax and Budget Policy
  • Technology and Privacy
  • Trade Policy
Archives
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • Show More
May 16, 2012 2:49PM

When Bipartisanship Is A Dirty Word

By Sallie James

SHARE

In a blog post I wrote about two years ago, I said “Usually when I hear that a policy proposal has bipartisan support, I instinctively check for my wallet.” At that time I was lauding a bipartisan proposal to shut the USDA’s market access program (although it seems that idea didn’t get much traction) under the heading “When Bipartisanship Is Good News.”


I should have trusted my instincts; i.e., that “bipartisanship” is code for either:


(a) “we’ve just renamed a post office”;


(b) “cough up, because we’ve agreed to spend more of your money”;


(c) “brace yourself, because we’ve agreed to violate more of your liberties”; or


(d) both b and c (see, e.g., the Department of Homeland Security).


Last night we were treated to an example of (b), when the U.S. Senate in a 78 to 20 vote elected to follow the House’s lead (330 to 93, in that case) to re‐​authorize, with a bigger budget, the Export‐​Import Bank of the United States until 2014. (Please do click on the previous two links to the roll‐​calls so you can see how your friendly Representative or Senator voted on this taxpayer‐​funded slush fund for the biggest corporations in America, by the way). The bill will now go to the President for his signature.


Allow me a few comments. First, this is incredibly disappointing. One would think that this is an excellent time to shut down the Ex‐​Im Bank, what with bailout‐​fatigue, trillion dollar deficits and all. But this bill “had the backing of business and labor groups,” as this Washington Post article makes clear, and despite all of the rhetoric from both sides, it seems that Congress and the President loves them some special interest group pleadings.


Second, the fairly easily debunked talking points of Ex‐​Im supporters obviously resonated. Ex‐​Im Bank president Fred Hochburg (who one can hardly expect to do anything other than protect his job) showed an excellent ear for PR when he said “there are no Democratic or Republican exports. There are exports that create jobs. Good, middle‐​class jobs.” Exports! Jobs! Middle class! What’s not to love? And in the interest of non‐​partisanship, here’s a quote from Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in response to the arguments made by what the WaPo article called “tea party conservatives”: 

“I live in the real world and the real world is that these financing mechanisms have to be available to American manufacturers to have a share of the overseas market”

Actually, Senator, I’m glad you raised “the real world”. Because in “the real world” stuff costs money, money that isn’t manna from heaven but taken from other people. And in the real world, regulations or other market interventions distort the economy, reallocating resources from their most productive uses as identified by volunteers putting their own money at risk and towards uses directed by political entities, responding to lobbying and other features of public choice. In the real world, there is nothing special about manufacturing per se, with lots of middle class (or “upper class” jobs, if the class system is something that matters to you) created in the service sector. Also in the real world? Private finance. Lots of it, as you would know if you spoke with any of the folks producing the 98 percent of U.S. exports that don’t rely on Ex‐​Im.


Third, and this is somewhat parenthetical, not one — NOT ONE — Democrat in either chamber voted against corporate welfare. Interestingly, according to the roll call for the 2002 re‐​authorization of the Ex‐​Im Bank, 26 democrats voted against re‐​authorization 10 years ago. So there was some opposition back when President Bush was in charge, but now that President Obama (as opposed to Candidate “The Ex‐​Im Bank is little more than corporate Welfare” Obama) is supportive, apparently taxpayer guarantees for big business are ok. The following Democratic members switched their vote from “Nay” in 2002 to “Yea” (or should that be “Yay!”?) in 2012: Andrews, Baldwin, Conyers, deFazio, Jackson (IL), Kaptur, Matheson, Nadler, Owens, Pallone, Peterson (MN), Stark, and Waters (with Kucinich not voting in 2012, but voted “Nay” in 2002). I’d be curious to hear about what caused the change of heart.

Related Tags
Government and Politics, Tax and Budget Policy, Trade Policy, Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies

Stay Connected to Cato

Sign up for the newsletter to receive periodic updates on Cato research, events, and publications.

View All Newsletters

1000 Massachusetts Ave, NW,
Washington, DC 20001-5403
(202) 842-0200
Contact Us
Privacy

Footer 1

  • About
    • Annual Reports
    • Leadership
    • Jobs
    • Student Programs
    • Media Information
    • Store
    • Contact

Footer 2

  • Experts
    • Policy Scholars
    • Adjunct Scholars
    • Fellows
  • Events
    • Upcoming
    • Past
    • Event FAQs
    • Sphere Summit

Footer 3

  • Publications
    • Books
    • Cato Journal
    • Regulation
    • Cato Policy Report
    • Cato Supreme Court Review
    • Cato’s Letter
    • Human Freedom Index
    • Economic Freedom of the World
    • Cato Handbook for Policymakers

Footer 4

  • Blog
  • Donate
    • Sponsorship Benefits
    • Ways to Give
    • Planned Giving
Also from Cato Institute:
Libertarianism.org
|
Humanprogress.org
|
Downsizinggovernment.org