IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Poliquin still taking heat for Ex-Im opposition
Given the swirl of headlines surrounding Congressman Poliquin’s opposition to reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank, it would be understandable if you missed the latest report today from the Bangor Daily News.
GE, a major Bangor employer, has indicated that as many as 80 Bangor jobs are at risk of being sent overseas as a result of Poliquin and House Republicans’ continued efforts to block reauthorization of the bank’s charter. Now, according to the BDN, Congressman Poliquin — after months of criticizing the bank and voting against procedural motions to allow a reauthorization vote to take place — is apparently “leaving himself some wiggle room to vote for reauthorizing the bank.”
“Now that it’s clear that good paying Maine jobs are on the line, Congressman Poliquin is trying to whitewash his history of inaction,” said Meredith Kelly of the DCCC. “Mainers deserve better than an unreliable Congressman whose support for Maine jobs and exports is dependent on political expediency.”
ICYMI: GE threat brings Maine, Poliquin to center of Export-Import fight
Bangor Daily News
By Michael Shepherd
September 22, 2015
AUGUSTA, Maine — A threat by General Electric Co. to move 80 future jobs from Bangor to France has brought Congress’ fight over the neutered U.S. Export-Import Bank to Maine.
U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, a Republican from Maine’s 2nd District and the state’s top bank critic, has been criticized for it by Democrats: He’s the rare Maine politician who hasn’t voiced support for the bank, whose authority lapsed in June.
The bank, which provides loans to foreign buyers of American goods, is in jeopardy: Some conservatives say it should be starved because it distorts free markets, while Democrats and Republicans with business backing say that could trigger U.S. job losses.
Last week, it hit home in Bangor: GE announced that if the bank isn’t authorized, they would move future work that could support 500 jobs in Maine, New York and South Carolina to Europe and China.
Poliquin is criticizing the bank, but being coy about how he’d vote on reauthorizing it. The rest of Maine’s congressional delegation supports it, and Democrats are already giving it lots of attention in the run-up to his 2016 re-election bid.
Poliquin is leaving himself some wiggle room to vote for reauthorizing the bank, but he’s railing against it while echoing arguments from conservative colleagues.
The Senate has voted to reauthorize the bank, but House Republicans haven’t brought it up for a vote and it languishes in the House Financial Services Committee, on which Poliquin serves.
In July, MPBN reported that Poliquin was opposed to reauthorizing the bank. Notes from a March meeting with the New England Council say that Poliquin was a “lean no” on reauthorizing. But Poliquin spokesman Michael Byerly said those “do not define Congressman Poliquin’s position” and “he did not say he would vote against the bank,” though he didn’t say how he’d vote.
Poliquin’s top concern has been “corruption” at the bank. As of June, the bank’s inspector general said there were 29 open fraud investigations related to bank activities, and since 2009, there were 50 convictions and $255 million in repayments and judgments. Last week, Poliquin said if corruption is rooted out, he could support the bank.
But he has made other cases against it: In a news release after GE’s announcement, he called it “corporate welfare” that overwhelmingly benefits large companies and in a June hearing, he criticized it for potentially putting taxpayers at risk if loans go wrong.
Those arguments have been made by bank opponents, including U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Poliquin has also talked tough on GE since the announcement, saying in a radio interview that they’re “using their employees as political pawns.”
“They should not be, in my opinion, exporting, or considering, or threatening to export some of those jobs overseas just because the taxpayers aren’t subsidizing their loans enough, and that’s exactly what’s going on,” Poliquin said last week on WVOM.
But he’s isolated within Maine’s congressional delegation on the bank, which could make it a good campaign issue for Democrats in 2016.
… Read the full Bangor Daily News report.