Ron Paul and the Liberty Movement have changed the discussion in Washington, D.C.

A potential showdown this fall over the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank (or, Ex-Im Bank) could be a bellwether of just how much Ron Paul and the Liberty Movement have changed the discussion in Washington, D.C. over the past six years.

In a post titled "Welcome to Dave Brat's America: Majority Leader-elect Kevin McCarthy says Kill the Export-Import Bank," columnist Tim Carney, and long-time advocate for killing the Ex-Im Bank, writes:

announcement today shows a clear shift within the Republican Party against corporate welfare.

If McCarthy refuses to bring an Ex-Im renewal to the floor, the agency would expire, regardless of the actions of the Senate and the White House, both controlled by Democrats.

But the fight to take down the Ex-Im Bank, a longstanding symbol of all that is wrong with crony capitalism and corporate welfare, predates Brat's historic win over Eric Cantor, who successfully attacked the Majority Leader on those grounds.

Back in 2002, Dr. Ron Paul encouraged his colleagues to reject the Ex-Im Bank on economic, moral, and constitutional grounds.

Eximbank distorts the market by allowing government bureaucrats to make economic decisions in place of individual consumers. Eximbank also violates basic principals of morality, by forcing working Americans to subsidize the trade of wealthy companies that could easily afford to subsidize their own trade, as well as subsidizing brutal governments like Red China and the Sudan. Eximbank also violates the limitations on congressional power to take the property of individual citizens and use them to benefit powerful special interests.

As always, Washington, D.C. is a little slow to catch up. By late 2008, in the throws of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the American people were starting to realize the effects of crony capitalism, and began to look for answers. Many found them by reading books like Meltdown and Obamanomics, or by watching old Ron Paul floor speeches on YouTube or in CSPAN's archives.

In 2012, Senator Rand Paul urged his colleagues to reject the Ex-Im Bank. It passed the Senate that year 78-20, and the House passed it 330-93.

If Carney's prediction holds, it would be a huge blow to the crony capitalists and a major victory for free markets. And a sign that as Bob Dylan sang, "For the times they are a-changin'!"

Take a moment today to contact your representative and urge them to oppose any attempt to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank in 2014.