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.
[…] specializes in this kind of cronyism. The Export-Import Bank, ethanol handouts, TARP, and Obamacare bailouts for big insurance firms are a few of my […]
[…] ele descobre que as políticas cronistas4 representam uma participação deprimentemente grande dos lucros das […]
[…] their disdain for certain big companies. Consider the way a select handful of big companies use the Export-Import Bank to obtain undeserved profits. How about the way big agri-businesses rip off consumers with the […]
[…] of the worst examples of Washington cronyism is the Export-Import Bank, which has provided subsidies for big companies that sell to foreign […]
[…] choice” reason that we maintain policies – such as agriculture subsidies the Export-Import Bank, and occupational licensing – that reward narrow interest groups in the United […]
[…] is not as bad as it was in 2015 when we got a bunch of bad policies, including resuscitation of the corrupt Export-Import Bank, another Supreme Court Obamacare farce, expanded IMF bailout authority, and busted spending […]
[…] this doesn’t make me a fan of big companies. Too many large firms (in finance, health, tech, energy, manufacturing, autos, pharma, agriculture, etc) are far too willing to seek “profits” […]
[…] policies in exchange for votes or campaign contributions. Just look at the GOPers who support the Export-Import Bank, Fannie-Freddie subsidies, or ethanol […]
[…] specializes in this kind of cronyism. The Export-Import Bank, ethanol handouts, TARP, and Obamacare bailouts for big insurance firms are a […]
[…] specializes in this kind of cronyism. The Export-Import Bank, ethanol handouts, TARP, and Obamacare bailouts for big insurance firms are a few of my […]
[…] the way a select handful of big companies use the Export-Import Bank to obtain undeserved […]
[…] Export-Import Bank is still alive – With total GOP control of Washington, one would hope this egregious dispenser of corporate welfare would be gone. Sadly, the swamp is winning this […]
[…] Wall Street firms supporting Dodd-Frank in hopes of getting oligopolistic profits. Or Exxon-Mobil ripping off taxpayers and getting special advantages thanks to the Export-Import Bank. I could continue, but you get the […]
[…] Wall Street firms supporting Dodd-Frank in hopes of getting oligopolistic profits. Or Exxon-Mobil ripping off taxpayers and getting special advantages thanks to the Export-Import Bank. I could continue, but you get the […]
[…] pro-capitalism party. So when they see the GOP favoring corrupt handouts to business such as the Export-Import Bank and the sleazy ethanol program, they conclude – once again – that capitalism is rigged […]
[…] their disdain for certain big companies. Consider the way a select handful of big companies use the Export-Import Bank to obtain undeserved profits. How about the way big agri-businesses rip off consumers with the […]
[…] are some reforms (licensing liberalization, cutting agriculture subsidies, reducing protectionism, shutting the Ex-Im Bank, reforming Social Security, ending bailouts) that will probably be disproportionately beneficial […]
[…] important point, which is that government-subsidized broadcasting is another odious example (Export-Import Bank, agriculture subsidies, TARP bailout, etc) of how government coercion is used to provide goodies to […]
[…] is why I am so unrelentingly hostile to programs like the Export-Import Bank, agriculture subsidies, so-called disaster relief, green-energy scams like Solyndra, and Fannie […]
[…] some cases, where government is doing bad things (stealing property, subsidizing big corporations, fleecing poor people, etc), I actually favor […]
[…] other words, he has the power to shut down this geyser of corporate welfare. But will […]
[…] other words, he has the power to shut down this geyser of corporate welfare. But will […]
[…] you don’t believe me, just look at the big corporations lobbying for bad policies such as the Export-Import Bank, Dodd-Frank, Obamacare, bailouts, and the green-energy […]
[…] If you don’t believe me, just look at the big corporations lobbying for bad policies such as the Export-Import Bank, Dodd-Frank, Obamacare, bailouts, and the green-energy […]
[…] If you don’t believe me, just look at the big corporations lobbying for bad policies such as the Export-Import Bank, Dodd-Frank, Obamacare, bailouts, and the green-energy […]
[…] If you don’t believe me, just look at the big corporations lobbying for bad policies such as the Export-Import Bank, Dodd-Frank, Obamacare, bailouts, and the green-energy […]
[…] don’t believe me, just look at the big corporations lobbying for bad policies such as the Export-Import Bank, Dodd-Frank, Obamacare, bailouts, and the green-energy […]
[…] you don’t believe me, just look at the big corporations lobbying for bad policies such as the Export-Import Bank, Dodd-Frank, Obamacare, bailouts, and the green-energy […]
[…] pro-capitalism party. So when they see the GOP favoring corrupt handouts to business such as the Export-Import Bank and the sleazy ethanol program, they conclude – once again – that capitalism is rigged for the […]
[…] pro-capitalism party. So when they see the GOP favoring corrupt handouts to business such as the Export-Import Bank and the sleazy ethanol program, they conclude – once again – that capitalism is rigged […]
[…] P.P.S. Plenty of Republicans will get rich as well as Hillary expands government. If you don’t believe me, just consider how many of them collect campaign cash in exchange for votes in favor of ethanol and the Export-Import Bank. […]
[…] P.P.S. Plenty of Republicans will get rich as well as Hillary expands government. If you don’t believe me, just consider how many of them collect campaign cash in exchange for votes in favor of ethanol and the Export-Import Bank. […]
[…] produce bad outcomes (and if you have any doubts that this is true, just think about the Export-Import Bank or farm […]
[…] giant crony capitalist corporate welfare scam: the Import-Export Bank. See this nauseating example presented by Dan Mitchell of how this corrupt cronyism institution […]
[…] so they can use the coercive power of government to take other people’s money, which is reprehensible and disgusting. In other cases, they are seeking to guard against being victimized with high taxes and punitive […]
[…] to enrich themselves. I don’t like it when politicians, bureaucrats, lobbyists, contractors, cronies, and other well-connected interest groups funnel money to themselves at the expense of ordinary […]
[…] to enrich themselves. I don’t like it when politicians, bureaucrats, lobbyists, contractors, cronies, and other well-connected interest groups funnel money to themselves at the expense of ordinary […]
[…] deserve their money if they earn it in the marketplace. But if they get rich via TARP bailouts, Ex-Im Bank subsidies, protectionist barriers, green-energy boondoggles, or some other form of cronyism, that’s […]
[…] taxpayers (or consumers) to pay more in order to line the pockets of a company or industry. The Export-Import Bank would be an example of this odious practice, as would ethanol […]
[…] Sanders was good on this issue, so this platform language means Hillary Clinton’s support for corporate welfare […]
[…] some serious diverting of other people’s money. Makes scams like Solyndra, Export-Import Bank, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seem like amateur hour by […]
[…] he finds that cronyist policies account for a depressingly large share of corporate […]
[…] power over the allocation of resources, of course, but cronyism/interventionism tends to be ad hoc and morally corrupt while socialism/state planning tends to be systemic and intellectually […]
[…] power over the allocation of resources, of course, but cronyism/interventionism tends to be ad hoc and morally corrupt while socialism/state planning tends to be systemic and intellectually […]
[…] They’re now supporting the corrupt Import-Export Bank. […]
[…] They’re now supporting the corrupt Import-Export Bank. […]
[…] a bit of applause for the United States. We have some egregious forms of cronyism that benefit the undeserving rich, but most American billionaires apparently earn their […]
[…] When government gets to pick winners and losers, it’s highly probable that those who get the handouts, bailouts, and subsidies will be rich, powerful, and politically connected. Heck, just think of the Ex-Im Bank. […]
[…] When government gets to pick winners and losers, it’s highly probable that those who get the handouts, bailouts, and subsidies will be rich, powerful, and politically connected. Heck, just think of the Ex-Im Bank. […]
[…] Bank, and making taxpayers pay part of its legal settlements in pollution cases, and oiling up government officials it wants to approve even more taxpayer […]
[…] Export-Import Bank, and making taxpayers pay part of its legal settlements in pollution cases, and oiling up government officials it wants to approve even more taxpayer […]
[…] Export-Import Bank, and making taxpayers pay part of its legal settlements in pollution cases, and oiling up government officials it wants to approve even more taxpayer […]
[…] Export-Import Bank, and making taxpayers pay part of its legal settlements in pollution cases, and oiling up government officials it wants to approve even more taxpayer […]
[…] I celebrated the expiration of the Export-Import Bank’s authority. I should have known that corrupt cronyism was hard to extinguish. Sure enough, Republicans and Democrats conspired to re-authorize the Ex-Im […]
[…] I celebrated the expiration of the Export-Import Bank’s authority. I should have known that corrupt cronyism was hard to extinguish. Sure enough, Republicans and Democrats conspired to re-authorize the Ex-Im […]
[…] Ugh, how distasteful. But hardly a surprise given that GE is a big supporter of the corrupt Export-Import Bank. […]
[…] Ugh, how distasteful. But hardly a surprise given that GE is a big supporter of the corrupt Export-Import Bank. […]
[…] to the point when businesses are focused on harvesting favors from Washington (such as bailouts, export subsidies, special tax preferences, etc), that is a very depressing indication of a cronyist economy rather […]
[…] all, would we have unsavory examples of corruption like the Export-Import Bank if wealthy insiders from big companies weren’t able to generate buckets of campaign cash for […]
[…] such as the Export-Import Bank? It’s easy to understand the negative effects, such as corrupt cronyism, but what’s the underlying economic […]
[…] Our possible victory over the Export-Import Bank is only possible because of Veronique de Rugy, Tim Carney, and other diligent fighters against corrupt cronyism. […]
[…] corrupt Ex-Im Bank is just one example of the for-sale sign in Fincher’s […]
[…] consumers are only in danger when government puts its thumb on the scale with handouts, subsidies, restrictions, bailouts, regulations, licensing, mandates, and other forms of […]
[…] consumers are only in danger when government puts its thumb on the scale with handouts, subsidies, restrictions, bailouts, regulations, licensing, mandates, and other forms of […]
[…] corrupt Export-Import Bank has expired and there’s nothing that Obama can do to restore this odious example of corporate welfare. It will only climb from the grave if Republicans on Capitol Hill decide that campaign cash from […]
[…] I should also point out that some of my colleagues at the Cato Institute have been working hard for years to explain why the Ex-Im Bank should be abolished. Kudos also to Heritage Action for fighting against this corrupt cronyist institution. […]
[…] That assumes, of course, that people are earning their income honestly rather than via government-enabled cronyism. […]
[…] giant crony capitalist corporate welfare scam: the Import-Export Bank. See this nauseating example presented by Dan Mitchell of how this corrupt cronyism institution […]
[…] giant crony capitalist corporate welfare scam: the Import-Export Bank. See this nauseating example presented by Dan Mitchell of how this corrupt cronyism institution […]
[…] Export-Import Bank […]
[…] Export-Import Bank […]
[…] not free enterprise. A giant crony capitalist corporate welfare scam: the Import-Export Bank. See this nauseating example presented by Dan Mitchell of how this corrupt cronyism institution […]
[…] giant crony capitalist corporate welfare scam: the Import-Export Bank. See this nauseating example presented by Dan Mitchell of how this corrupt cronyism institution […]
[…] giant crony capitalist corporate welfare scam: the Import-Export Bank. See this nauseating example presented by Dan Mitchell of how this corrupt cronyism institution […]
[…] giant crony capitalist corporate welfare scam: the Import-Export Bank. See this nauseating example presented by Dan Mitchell of how this corrupt cronyism institution […]
[…] giant crony capitalist corporate welfare scam: the Import-Export Bank. See this nauseating example presented by Dan Mitchell of how this corrupt cronyism institution […]
[…] the Wall Street Journal editorial page. For instance, they just published a great editorial on that cesspool of cronyism and corruption that is otherwise known as the Export-Import […]
[…] the Wall Street Journal editorial page. For instance, they just published a great editorial on that cesspool of cronyism and corruption that is otherwise known as the Export-Import […]
[…] their list of 10 “handouts” include the Export-Import Bank, which lines the pockets of big corporations? […]
[…] their list of 10 “handouts” include the Export-Import Bank, which lines the pockets of big corporations? […]
[…] when I write about shutting down the Export-Import Bank, closing the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and reforming the tax code, I make the […]
[…] agitated that Republicans seem unable to achieve easy victories, such as doing nothing and letting the corrupt Export-Import Bank disappear. And it makes me think they’re a bunch of big-government […]
[…] You can peruse lots of additional evidence at this Mercatus link. The bottom line is that the only argument for the Export-Import Bank is that it helps to perpetuate a corrupt insider scam. […]
[…] When I discuss corporate welfare, my first example is usually the Export-Import Bank. It galls me that taxpayers are coerced into subsidizing some of the world’s biggest corporations. […]
[…] 1934 – Export-Import Bank organizes in Washington, DC […]
[…] now discuss another example of American taxpayer money being wasted in other nations. I’ve written previously about the squalid corruption at the Export-Import Bank, but Veronique de Rugy of Mercatus is the […]
[…] P.S. Speaking of corruption, there’s actually a serious effort on Capitol Hill to shut down the Export-Import Bank, which has been a cesspool of corruption and cronyism. […]
[…] many of those same companies will then turn around and try to manipulate the system for subsidies, protectionism, and corrupt tax […]
[…] The bottom line is that you don’t help poor people by savaging rich people (though it is very appropriate to target rich people who have undeserved wealth because of crony policies such as TARP and Ex-Im Bank). […]
[…] 1934 – Export-Import Bank organizes in Washington, DC […]
[…] grotesque levels of fiscal irresponsibility. Heck, just look at the new farm bill. Or the vote on the Export-Import Bank. Or the vote on housing subsidies. Or…well, you get the […]
[…] asked to list the example of cronyism that I find most nauseating, the Export-Import Bank would be at the top of my […]
[…] don’t forget that companies like Boeing and Exxon Mobil use the Export-Import Bank to line their pockets at our […]
[…] very understandable for people to get nauseated when we see things such as lobbying for corporate welfare or campaign contributions being given in exchange for things such as ethanol […]
[…] very understandable for people to get nauseated when we see things such as lobbying for corporate welfare or campaign contributions being given in exchange for things such as ethanol […]
[…] may understand that the federal government is bloated and they may understand that there’s a big problem with corruption in Washington, but can you make them understand that there’s a lot of sleaze in Washington because […]
[…] 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 […]
[…] 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 […]
[…] 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. […]
[…] 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 […]
[…] 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 […]
[…] crony-capitalism answer: Statism is inevitable because big business can’t resist getting into bed with big government and corrupting the process of free […]
[…] 1934 – Export-Import Bank organizes in Washington, DC […]
[…] 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 […]
[…] 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 […]
[…] 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 […]
[…] Republicans have increased the budget of the Export-Import Bank. […]
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).
[…] 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 […]
[…] 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 […]
[…] 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. […]
[…] 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 […]
[…] 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 […]
[…] 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 […]
[…] 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 […]
[…] / 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 – […]
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…
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.