The Export-Import Bank – the poster child for corporate welfare – was due to expire at the end of September. But it has been given a temporary reprieve while congressional leaders plot to renew it on the sly by attaching it to a must-pass spending bill, meaning the bank will never get the scrutiny taxpayers deserve.
Ex-Im subsidizes export transactions using sweetheart terms – including below-market-rate loans – that are backed by the American taxpayer. According to the bank's website, the agency provides financing when “private sector lenders are unable or unwilling to” and “assumes credit and country risks that the private sector is unable or unwilling to accept” [emphasis added].
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