including the Export Import bank that he established as an important part of his economic program,
and that every year returns a profit to the US Treasury.
I understand why the tea party wants to end it -- they want to end Social security and all the rest of the New Deal. They don't want a public bank "competing" with the private sector. But I think it's strange that Bernie is attacking one of Roosevelt's programs -- one that has been supported by every President for 85 years because it helps our businesses compete on a level playing field with all the other countries that have similar public banks.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/six-things-know-about-export-import-bank-n399786
WHAT IS THE EXPORT-IMPORT BANK AND WHAT DOES IT DO?
The 81 year old bank, created by executive order by former president Franklin D. Roosevelt during the New Deal era, primarily finances and insures foreign purchases of U.S. products. Known as the Ex-Im Bank , it's a federally backed financial institution which makes and guarantees loans. The Ex-Im Bank also "offers insurance to American companies so they can do business overseas."
SNIP
The modern opposition to EX-IM can be traced back to the Tea Party wave of 2010 and the rise of anti-government conservatism that has gripped Capitol Hill since. Many conservative Republicans see EX-IM as engaging in "crony capitalism," meaning that the government is picking winners and losers by deciding what companies get loans, are insured, etc.
It also coincides with the rise of strong outside conservative groups such as Heritage Action, Club For Growth, Americans for Prosperity and other organizations backed by the Koch Brothers.
Opponents of EX-IM have attracted some prominent and vocal supporters eager to tap into the Tea Party energy and to not upset the outside conservative groups. Republican presidential candidates Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as well as House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, all oppose the bank.
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/export-import-bank
Creation of Export-Import Bank
In 1934, the Roosevelt Administration undertook two initiatives that signaled a desire to reengage economically with the rest of the world. The first was the creation of the Export-Import Bank. In February 1934, Roosevelt established the bank as an institution designed to finance U.S. trade with the newly-recognized Soviet Union. He created a second Export-Import Bank the following month, this one intended to finance trade with Cuba; in July 1934, the second bank’s field of operations was expanded to include all countries save the Soviet Union. In 1935, the two banks were combined and Congress passed legislation granting the newly unified bank more powers and more capital. In the years before the start of the Second World War, while it did extend credits to countries outside the Western Hemisphere such as Italy and China, the Export-Import Bank concentrated its efforts in Latin America, where it proved an important component of the Good Neighbor policy.
The second major foreign economic policy initiative of 1934 was the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act (RTAA). In March 1934, proclaiming “that a full and permanent domestic recovery depends in part upon a revived and strengthened international trade,” Roosevelt asked Congress for authority to negotiate trade agreements based upon reciprocal tariff reductions with other countries. Signed into law on June 12, 1934, the RTAA represented a fundamental shift in U.S. trade policy. The Constitution gives Congress the right to regulate foreign commerce and establish tariff rates. Under the RTAA, Congress granted the president the right – on a temporary basis, subject to renewal after three years – to decrease or increase U.S. tariffs by up to 50% of the levels set by the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff in exchange for tariff concessions by other countries. Such tariff reductions would be brought into force through executive agreements, rather than treaties requiring Senate approval. U.S. tariff cuts negotiated under the RTAA would also be extended to all third countries to which the United States had accorded most favored nation status.
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