Received this e-mail today from Joe Sestak's (D. PA) U.S. Senate campaign:
By the way, Sestak pointed out today that local press is slamming Toomey on this:
Erie Times-News Calls Out Sen. Toomey’s Reckless Actions Against Small Businesses and Manufacturers
Newspaper Chastises Toomey’s “Position of Tea Party Politicians and the Club for Growth”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 1, 2015
In a Sunday column, the editorial board at the Erie Times-News criticized Sen. Toomey’s actions against the U.S. Export-Import Bank – a little known federal agency that helps small businesses expand into export markets. The Times-News noted Toomey’s misguided view on this issue is “the same position of tea party politicians and the Club for Growth.”
The editorial commended a bipartisan group of legislators in Washington, D.C., who have been working together to support reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank because it helps Erie County small businesses, like Industrial Sales & Manufacturing Inc. and Eriez Manufacturing.
The editorial also noted that former Admiral Joe Sestak “got it right recently when he said the Ex-Im Bank enables ‘American entrepreneurs to turn an export opportunity into an actual sale.’” Toomey, however, gets it wrong when he refers to the Ex-Im Bank’s programs that help small businesses and manufacturers export their goods as “welfare.”
Joe supports the Ex-Im Bank of the United States because, even though it is relatively unknown to most people, its goal is crucial: providing American exporters with insurance against losses, direct loans to buyers of U.S. products, loan guarantees for banks that make working capital loans and loan guarantees to banks that lend to foreign buyers.
FACTS:
In Pennsylvania alone, the Ex-Im Bank supported over 250 businesses that conducted a total of $6 billion in transactions since 2007, directly supporting 35,000 jobs in the process.1
Nationwide, 5,691 of the 8,811 exporting companies that used the bank from 2007 to 2014 were small businesses.2
In 2013, small companies accounted for more than 90 percent of the bank’s insurance, and 95 percent of all working capital loan guarantees went to small companies.3
The Ex-Im bank turned a profit in 2013 and paid $1.1 billion to the Treasury.4
For many export-driven small businesses, this support is crucial. That’s why support for the Ex-Im Bank is one of the rare issues where the White House, the National Association of Manufacturers, Republicans and Democrats alike agree.5 Toomey’s opposition to the Ex-Im Bank is yet another example of his saying that he supports job creation by small business, but does the exact opposite in D.C.
Increasing our export economy is critical for our continued economic recovery and for further job creation. In fact, every $1 billion of additional exports produces about 7,000 good American jobs6 and it is estimated that trade supported jobs pay 13 to 18 percent higher than the national average wage.7
Instead of letting ideology get in the way of prosperity, Toomey should think about the people of Pennsylvania. Since Toomey took office, 232 Pennsylvania companies have used the Ex-Im Bank to increase sales and create jobs.8 If Toomey had his way, those businesses would have been on their own.
For more information, contact:
Danielle Lynch
610-505-5861
danielle.lynch@joesestak.com
1. http://www.delcochamber.org/...
2. http://www.exim.gov//customcf/congressionalmap/us_map.cfm
3. http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/...
4. http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
5. http://www.cnbc.com/...
6. http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
7. https://ustr.gov/...
8. http://www.exim.gov/...
If you would like to donate and get involved with Sestak's campaign, you can do so here: