The Op- Ed writings about Corporate Welfare are interesting reading. The writer, Chris Rufer, founded The Morning Star Company. The company has a workforce of not less than 2,000 workers. It deals with processing and agri-business. He started the company in the year 1970. At that time, he used to haul tomatoes to other canneries. But now, the company does the entire process of harvesting, hauling the products to its processing plants, and supplying the finished products (Rufer).
Chris Rufer’s Morning Star Company has its roots in the Southern and Northern California. It is one region that receives the world’s attention for being the most productive tomato growing region. It manufactures very many tomato products. It has invested heavily in the industry and accounts for about 25% of California’s processing tomato production. It has industrial sales of about $350 million.
As one of the most influential business people, Chris Rufer, together with hundreds of other business leaders, support the Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce. It’s a league of business leaders opposing the corporate welfare programs in Washington. His business of supplying tomatoes could also benefit by not having to face stiff competition from those that the bank finances (Rufer).
The Values
The author has been evaluating the federally-run Export-Import Bank. It was founded during the New Deal to “support jobs in the United States by facilitating the export of U.S goods and services.” It uses taxpayer money to give loans to private companies. The argument here is that it leaves many people wondering how it manages its work. If the borrowers make a profit, they use it for their ventures. But if the borrowers default, the taxpayers have to cater for the loss (Rufer).
Mr. Chris is unhappy with the way the bank operates its scheme. He argues that if it is to benefit Americans by creating and sustaining more jobs, it has to finance American owned enterprises. The Affordable Care Acts defines small businesses as those with approximately fifty employees. The Export-Import bank raises the figure by 1,450. Instead of supporting small businesses, the bank supports multinational companies.
Most of the beneficiaries are also state-owned companies from across the globe. Companies like the Emirates Airlines benefited from the financing to buy Boeing Airplanes. The author argues that financing foreign companies only puts the American companies in unfair competition with them. It can result in the closure of US citizens’ enterprises and lack of jobs locally. The small percentage of small businesses financed gives them undue advantage over others. Another concern is the use of taxpayers’ money to support a few businesses and leave others to struggle for space in the market. His argument is that this corporate welfare program should stop because it is unfair, misleading, and not honoring its intended mission.
The Author’s Argument
The author is building a serious argument that has the support of very influential business leaders. He makes clear and concise arguments on the issue because he foresees a situation where few enterprises would misuse the original good plans of the bank for their own interest. The loss of taxpayers’ money through unfair means is an offense. The unfair distribution of wealth through loans makes it hard to ascertain how well the money is invested (Rufer).
The writer uses sarcasm and irony to air his views. He has seen many American business leaders work with the government to increase their profits at taxpayers’ expense (Rufer). According to his argument in writing, this profit is just another way of misusing public money. Most of the reports indicate that in the long run, the bank would lose a lot of money (Rufer).
One has gained more knowledge from the author’s writings. One had always thought that the Export-Import bank had brought about growth in the business sector. The lesson that one has gained is to always look for other opinions and facts before making judgments. It is important for one to be investigative about important matters.
Works Cited
Rufer, Chris. “End This Corporate Welfare”. New York Times. 2015: A21. Print.