Tiahrt: No Taxpayer-Funded Bailouts for Greece
Congressional Desk
July 26, 2010
WASHINGTON—U.S. Congressman Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) joined with Congressman Mike Pence (R-Ind.), Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and other Republican colleagues to call on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to block any American taxpayer-funded bailouts of Greece. In a letter to Geithner, Tiahrt and his colleagues urge the Obama administration to protect taxpayers from footing the bill for a multi-billion-dollar international bailout.
"Taxpayers should not be left to pick up the tab for bailouts in America or in foreign countries," said Tiahrt. "We have a $1.4 trillion deficit, skyrocketing debt from our own reckless bailouts and an unemployment rate that has held around 10 percent for the past eight months. The last thing American families and small businesses need is for the Obama administration to send their hard-earned dollars to irresponsible European countries."
Greece is seeking funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due to the country´s debt. It is also being reported that other European countries, such as Portugal and Spain, may soon make similar appeals.
The text of the letter to Secretary Geithner:
The American people are tired of the bailouts. After hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts for financial firms, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and car manufacturers, the American taxpayer is being asked to start down a road that could lead to tens of billions in new bailouts for foreign countries.
According to reports, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expected to provide billions to supplement European Union funds in order to bail out Greece from its ongoing debt crisis and irresponsible spending.
The funding is expected to come from IMF´s pool of New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB), which the U.S. supplemented with $100 billion in the FY 2009 War Funding Supplemental bill. The legislation was ultimately opposed by 202 Members of the House of Representatives, in part because of fears that taxpayer dollars would be used to finance an international bailout slush fund. It now appears that the IMF is on the verge of turning those fears into reality.
It is unlikely that Greece will be the last major European Union member nation to seek IMF assistance in the near future. Worries about the impending debt emergencies in not only Greece, but Portugal, Ireland, Italy, and Spain have bogged down European markets. Now larger European Union economies have pledged to come to the aid of Greece, setting a precedent for more rescues of other debt ridden countries. What are the criteria for determining whether the U.S. should be obligated to join in these bailout efforts?
While it may be appropriate for the European Union to assist Greece, the U.S. is in the midst of its own debt crisis. The Congressional Budget Office now predicts that our nation´s debt held by the public will reach an astonishing 90 percent of Gross Domestic Product within ten years. By comparison, Greece´s current debt to GDP ratio of 112.5 percent has resulted in a lowering of their credit rating to junk status. Without dramatic spending restraint, the U.S. is on a path toward the same crisis.
At a time when America is experiencing its worst economy in 30 years and is burdened by a $1.4 trillion deficit, it is simply unfair—as a matter of principle—to force American taxpayers to use their hard-earned money to prop up failed policies in relatively wealthy nations.
We urge the Administration on an ongoing basis to use any existing authority to protect American taxpayers from billions more in bailouts. Propping up Greece and any other European Union nation that may face a similar crisis in the future should not be the responsibility of our taxpayers.
"Taxpayers should not be left to pick up the tab for bailouts in America or in foreign countries," said Tiahrt. "We have a $1.4 trillion deficit, skyrocketing debt from our own reckless bailouts and an unemployment rate that has held around 10 percent for the past eight months. The last thing American families and small businesses need is for the Obama administration to send their hard-earned dollars to irresponsible European countries."
Greece is seeking funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due to the country´s debt. It is also being reported that other European countries, such as Portugal and Spain, may soon make similar appeals.
The text of the letter to Secretary Geithner:
The American people are tired of the bailouts. After hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts for financial firms, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and car manufacturers, the American taxpayer is being asked to start down a road that could lead to tens of billions in new bailouts for foreign countries.
According to reports, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expected to provide billions to supplement European Union funds in order to bail out Greece from its ongoing debt crisis and irresponsible spending.
The funding is expected to come from IMF´s pool of New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB), which the U.S. supplemented with $100 billion in the FY 2009 War Funding Supplemental bill. The legislation was ultimately opposed by 202 Members of the House of Representatives, in part because of fears that taxpayer dollars would be used to finance an international bailout slush fund. It now appears that the IMF is on the verge of turning those fears into reality.
It is unlikely that Greece will be the last major European Union member nation to seek IMF assistance in the near future. Worries about the impending debt emergencies in not only Greece, but Portugal, Ireland, Italy, and Spain have bogged down European markets. Now larger European Union economies have pledged to come to the aid of Greece, setting a precedent for more rescues of other debt ridden countries. What are the criteria for determining whether the U.S. should be obligated to join in these bailout efforts?
While it may be appropriate for the European Union to assist Greece, the U.S. is in the midst of its own debt crisis. The Congressional Budget Office now predicts that our nation´s debt held by the public will reach an astonishing 90 percent of Gross Domestic Product within ten years. By comparison, Greece´s current debt to GDP ratio of 112.5 percent has resulted in a lowering of their credit rating to junk status. Without dramatic spending restraint, the U.S. is on a path toward the same crisis.
At a time when America is experiencing its worst economy in 30 years and is burdened by a $1.4 trillion deficit, it is simply unfair—as a matter of principle—to force American taxpayers to use their hard-earned money to prop up failed policies in relatively wealthy nations.
We urge the Administration on an ongoing basis to use any existing authority to protect American taxpayers from billions more in bailouts. Propping up Greece and any other European Union nation that may face a similar crisis in the future should not be the responsibility of our taxpayers.
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