Tonight, Jeb Bush will be spending some important one-on-Kochs time with the New Hampshire chapter of Americans for Prosperity (aka the Kochs’ largest political arm).
Jeb will attempt to woo the brothers and their supporters with some red meat that will no doubt include slamming the Export-Import Bank, but he likely won’t mention that he used to support the bank. That’s the same bank that helped Jeb profit by financing a controversial business deal between state governments in Nigeria and M.W.I. Corporation. Yes, we’re talking about that deal, the one where Bush used his influence as a president’s son to land a $74 million loan from the Ex-Im to finalize.
Jeb’s hypocritical stance on Ex-Im helps line him up with the Koch brothers and conservatives in Congress. While he hasn’t used their corporate welfare line just yet, Jeb is still on Koch message, saying lawmakers should “find ways to lessen the contingent liability of the federal government.”
His timing couldn’t be better. Scott Walker, winner of the Kochs’ first impression rose, is no longer the front runner in the Koch brothers’ $900 million primary. According to the Boston Globe, Walker’s flub-filled announcement and many recent blunders have the Kochs’ eyes wandering… right over to the younger Bush.
Jeb’s support for the end of Ex-Im definitely helps him in his bid to win the Kochs’ final rose, but it also puts American jobs and companies — including 35 exporters in New Hampshire — at risk. Expect Jeb to prove it in his speech tonight: he’s willing to put his pursuit of the Kochs ahead of millions of Americans’ livelihoods.