While most politicians are running away from a politically toxic federal program, one Texas state representative is stepping up to defend it.
Ronald Reagan once said “the nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program.” It was notable then that authorization for the federal Export-Import Bank, commonly referred to as “Ex-Im,” was allowed by Congress to expire in July.
An April letter from more than 50 conservative groups, led by Americans for Prosperity, the Club for Growth, and Heritage Action, called on Congress to end the Ex-Im bank program. Ex-Im provides loans to fund exports by big businesses like Boeing and General Electric at below market rates.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz helped lead the opposition to reauthorizing the bank, calling it “the Washington cartel at its worst.”
Supporters of reauthorizing the bank – a move that would please lobbyists for Boeing and others – have been working behind the scenes and have largely been wary of supporting the measure publicly.
But one Texas state representative, who doesn’t have a vote on the bank, is stepping up to share his support of the program.
In response to a post by an Austin blogger attacking Cruz for “sending mixed signals to business” with his opposition to Ex-Im, Rep. Drew Springer (R–Muenster) defended the shuttered program.
@scottbraddock Ex-Im bank is the reason Air Tractor is still in Olney and the USA. 300+ good jobs in rural TX
— Drew Springer (@DrewSpringer) August 29, 2015
Springer represents a large rural district in West Texas. He won his seat in 2010 running as a conservative, but his voting record declined in 2015 after he aligned himself with liberal Republican House Speaker Joe Straus.
