The geniuses at PolitiFact have a piece on former governor Rick Perry’s position about the Export-Import Bank. In the article, they set out to show that the governor flip-flopped fully on his position, going from supporting it in 2014 to opposing it in 2015. Their conclusion:
Our ruling
Full change in position? On the Flip-O-Meter, that’s a FULL FLOP!
I’m very glad they took the time to figure this out — must have been a tough conclusion to reach considering Perry wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday called: “Why I’m Changing My Mind and Opposing the Ex-Im Bank.”
If the whole point of the piece is to let voters know that Perry has changed his mind, they would be better off going after politicians who haven’t just gone out and said they changed their minds, as Perry did.
For instance, they could do something on Republican representative Stephen Fincher, who voted against the bank and was very vocal about his opposition to it in 2012 but is now leading a fake effort to “reform” the bank. Haven’t seen him write an op-ed in the Journal explaining why he wants to reform rather than end it — anyone listening to him today may be under the impression that he always wanted to fix and reauthorize the bank.
Another possibility: Democratic representative Maxine Waters, who was very anti-Ex-Im Bank in 2002 before she became 150 percent pro-Ex-Im under the Obama administration. She’s now enthusiastically carrying water for big businesses on the House Financial Services Committee, while back in 2002 she was suggesting Ex-Im treats American workers unfairly. She too hasn’t explained why she changed her mind.
Another possibility: PolitiFact could highlight that 41 Democratic congressmen have changed their minds on Ex-Im since 2002:
Sanford D. Bishop, Jr., Robert A. Brady, Corrine Brown, Michael E. Capuano, Wm. Lacy Clay, James E. Clyburn, John Conyers, Jr., Elijah E. Cummings, Peter A. DeFazio, Diana DeGette, John D. Dingell, Michael F. Doyle, Eliot L. Engel, Sam Farr, Chaka Fattah, Alcee L. Hastings, Sheila Jackson Lee, Marcy Kaptur, Daniel T. Kildee, Barbara Lee, John Lewis, Stephen F. Lynch, Jim Matheson, Betty McCollum, James P. McGovern, Mike McIntyre, George Miller, Jerrold Nadler, Grace F. Napolitano, Frank Pallone, Jr., Bill Pascrell, Jr., Ed Pastor, Donald M. Payne, Jr., Nick J. Rahall, Janice D. Schakowsky, Jose E. Serrano, Brad Sherman, Louise McIntosh Slaughter, Mike Thompson, John F. Tierney, and last but not least Maxine Waters.
Sometimes, lawmakers change their minds and their positions. But most of them don’t, like Rick Perry did, explain their change of heart — that’s what should bother people.