Why Tim Scott Supported The “Boeing Bailout”

POLITICAL PRESSURE, FINANCIAL PROMISES SAID TO BE AT THE HEART OF HIS “FLIP FLOP”

S.C. House Speaker Bobby Harrell (RINO-Charleston), U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (RINO-SC) and S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley pressured first-term U.S. Rep. Tim Scott into voting in favor of a controversial expansion of the U.S. Export-Import Bank earlier this year.

Scott was initially opposed to reauthorizing the bank – and raising its borrowing capacity – but this trio of anti-free market politicians convinced him that it was in his best political interests to support the boondoggle.  Boeing is also alleged to have promised Scott hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.

The “Ex-Im” bank – which was courageously opposed by U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint and Reps. Jeff Duncan and Mick Mulvaney – makes loans to foreign countries that purchase American goods.  In recent years, however, the bank has turned into a glorified “Boeing Bailout” fund – one that makes loans to foreign airlines that purchase Boeing jets.

Not surprisingly, these loans make it harder for U.S.-based airlines to compete – which costs them jobs.  This diminished competition also results in higher airfare costs for consumers.

Anyway, Scott – who was elected as a “Tea Party” leader – has become increasingly unreliable on fiscal issues of late.

Not only that, he recently endorsed the reelection bid of Harrell – one of the most corrupt, fiscally liberal legislative leaders the state of South Carolina has ever seen.  In cutting a television ad on Harrell’s behalf, Scott claimed that the scandal-scarred Speaker “protected taxpayers” and “had integrity” – claims which should have immediately prompted lightning strikes.

This website endorsed Tim Scott in the 2010 GOP primary because we believed that the limited government, pro-free market rhetoric he campaigned on was going to be accompanied by votes consistent with that rhetoric.  And for awhile Scott did vote consistently with the taxpayers.  More and more frequently, though, he has evolved into a tool of powerful legislative leaders at both the state (Harrell) and federal (John Boehner) level – putting his own career advancement ahead of the best interests of the people he is supposed to be protecting.

Like Haley, “Republicans” will continue to elect Scott because he’s a minority and the party needs non-white faces to sell its new message of revenue enhancements and slightly less explosive and unsustainable government growth.

That’s not the message Tim Scott campaigned on, though … which leads us to believe that he is well on his way to become yet another “Republican” sellout.

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