If only other politicians would heed his call and help end it.
Lee's screed, Ex-Im Bank and the GOP’s Cronyism Test , points out that the right has been hammering Obama with this for good reason.
From the stimulus to cash-for-clunkers, from the bailouts to cap-and-trade, from Dodd-Frank to Obamacare, every name-brand initiative of the Obama era has distorted public policy to privilege well-connected insiders and elites at the expense of taxpayers and consumers. ...
Policy privilege corrupts the free market by rewarding political connections over competitive excellence. It subverts the rule of law by codifying inequality. It undermines social solidarity by pitting citizens against one another, twisting cooperative communities into rival special interests.
Then he gets dreamy.
Imagine a reformed Republican party seizing the moral high ground against political corruption and economic dysfunction. Imagine its leaders, advocating populist, free-market reforms to restore jobs, growth, and fairness to the economy. Faster than you can say “TARP,” we could pin the Left between their egalitarian facade and their elitist agenda, and force them to choose between K Street and Main Street.
For starters Lee suggests that Congress not reauthorize the Export Import Bank which he says exists "to dole out taxpayer-backed loan guarantees to help American exporters. Most of the benefits go to large corporations that are perfectly capable of securing private financing anywhere in the world."
Heck, even the Occupy Wall Street movement should get behind this. And it will be a good litmus test -- as if there haven't been enough already -- to see which Republicans respect taxpayers more than their cronies.
Via Tim Carney.
Comments