Obama's day: The Export-Import Bank

President Obama spends Wednesday with business owners who want to see a revival of the Export-Import Bank.

In the afternoon, Obama will meet with a group of ten business owners to discuss how elimination of the Ex-Im Bank hurts their bottom lines.

These business people "have worked with the Export-Import Bank in the past in order to expand their exports and sustain or create jobs," said a White House statement.

The bank has underwritten loans to foreign companies that buy American products, but its charter expired July 1 when Congress refused to re-authorize it. Some Republicans and a few Democrats have denounced the Ex-Im Bank as corporate welfare.

Without it, however, the White House says that "thousands of American small and medium-sized businesses will be left at a competitive disadvantage to their foreign rivals."

Also on Obama's schedule: A late afternoon reception to celebrate the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The president leaves Thursday for a trip to Kenya and Ethiopia.