One of my first posts on this blog featured this video showing how big government breeds corruption.
I’ve periodically provided examples of how this process works, citing Alaska, Chicago, Wall Street, and Washington.
Here’s another example, explicitly showing how big business and big government get in bed together to rape and pillage taxpayers. The sleazy details have been reported by Bloomberg.
Exxon Mobil Corp. and its partners in a $15 billion Papua New Guinea gas project last year paid the travel expenses for employees of the U.S. Export-Import Bank as it considered whether to help fund the venture. The four workers ran up $97,367 in bills traveling to London, Tokyo and the South Pacific, according to data compiled by the bank. They flew business class, viewed the project’s route by chartered aircraft and were entertained by costumed villagers. Eleven months later, the bank approved $3 billion in financing for the liquefied natural gas facility, the biggest transaction in the agency’s 75 years.
I posted last month about why it’s important to shut down the corrupt subsidies at the Export-Import bank. This story is a good example of why handouts for big companies are a carousel of sleaze.
Pay close attention to this issue. When the votes happen, you’ll be able to tell which Republicans understand the difference between free markets and cronyism – much as a pair of votes last year showed which Republicans believed in free markets instead of government subsidies for well-heeled housing interests.
Why so much corruption? Corporate taxes. Remove them along with subsidies and let the market pick winners and losers again. The current systems lets “losers” pick winners to the harm of the market, and consumers.
Talon’s Point makes a good point. Losers – those who prefer political corruption rather than to provide a service to satisfied clients – picking winners, what a great line!
And I’m curious to know the names of the four officials at the Export-Import Bank. Can’t they be charged with corruption?
Always name names, in fact, because it’s said that “name and shame” does have an influence on behavior…
[...] / Govt. For Feds, ‘Lying’ Is a Handy Charge – WSJ.com A Nauseating Example of Cronyism, Sleaze, and Corruption at the Export-Import Bank A Veteran’s Death, the Nation’s Shame – [...]
[...] guess this is the European version of the bastard child of Fannie Mae and the Export-Import Bank. But if anybody thinks government-subsidized cronyism is a route to prosperity, they’ve been [...]
[...] financial crises, undermining American competitiveness, crippling upward mobility for the poor, or giving away our money in corrupt vote-buying schemes, it seems that politicians have a reverse Midas [...]
[...] think that’s understandable since I’m often writing about clear-cut issues such as the corrupting nature of big government or the foolishness of class-warfare tax [...]
[...] But I think that’s understandable since I’m often writing about clear-cut issues such as the corrupting nature of big government or the foolishness of class-warfare tax [...]
[...] that we just saw big bipartisan votes to expand the Export-Import Bank’s corporate welfare and we’re now witnessing both parties working on a bloated farm bill, good luck with that. [...]
[...] sleazy examples such as the Export-Import Bank, I’ve offered some serious analysis about controlling political corruption by shrinking the [...]
[...] sleazy examples such as the Export-Import Bank, I’ve offered some serious analysis about controlling political corruption by shrinking the [...]
[...] of Robin Hood is all about a perniciously corrupt version of redistribution (though he should have included the Export-Import Bank on the side of the van). The genuine poor get crumbs while the well-connected interests make out [...]
Keep up the good work, Dan!
But naming names is also good — or at least linking to some CATO or other site which does name names.
For instance, listing all the Reps who did vote for the Housing Admin would help Tea Party and other small gov’t groups put more pressure on those sleaze Reps, sometimes including my semi-hero Paul Ryan, to vote less often in favor of sleaze.
Actually, please try to link to good data sites a bit more often — I read you a lot, but seldom go to CATO (or AEI or Heritage). If you see something good there, a quick link is nice.
Like your fine humor links — perhaps most important for Libs (& Cons & Reps).
[...] Republicans have increased the budget of the Export-Import Bank. [...]
[...] of Robin Hood is all about a perniciously corrupt version of redistribution (though he should have included the Export-Import Bank on the side of the van). The genuine poor get crumbs while the well-connected interests make out [...]
[...] another matter, kudos to Tim for mentioning corrupt Export-Import Bank subsidies. Too bad Romney, like Obama, isn’t on the right side of that [...]
[...] another matter, kudos to Tim for mentioning corrupt Export-Import Bank subsidies. Too bad Romney, like Obama, isn’t on the right side of that [...]
[...] why it is doubly counterproductive when Republicans support policies and programs such as TARP, the Export-Import Bank, agriculture subsidies, and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac [...]
[...] for smaller government. And as we saw from votes on housing handouts, pork-barrel spending, and corporate welfare, the GOP oftentimes is part of the [...]
[...] 1934 - Export-Import Bank organizes in Washington, DC [...]
[...] crony-capitalism answer: Statism is inevitable because big business can’t resist getting into bed with big government and corrupting the process of free [...]
[...] of Robin Hood is all about a perniciously corrupt version of redistribution (though he should have included the Export-Import Bank on the side of the van). The genuine poor get crumbs while the well-connected interests make out [...]
[...] I periodically revisit the issue by citing disgusting examples of sleaze and cronyism ranging from the Export-Import Bank to the racial spoils scam in [...]
[...] By the way, if we’re worried about actual subsidies that benefit corporate jets, Tim Carney’s already explained that we should focus on the cronyists at the Export-Import Bank. And I heartily agree. [...]
[...] another matter, kudos to Tim for mentioning corrupt Export-Import Bank subsidies. Too bad Romney, like Obama, isn’t on the right side of that [...]
[...] another matter, kudos to Tim for mentioning corrupt Export-Import Bank subsidies. Too bad Romney, like Obama, isn’t on the right side of that [...]
[…] of Robin Hood is all about a perniciously corrupt version of redistribution (though he should have included the Export-Import Bank on the side of the van). The genuine poor get crumbs while the well-connected interests make out […]