Posted on 11/06/2011 3:00:55 PM PST by reaganaut1
Like it or not—and many of us don't like it at all -- U.S. taxpayers are helping to bail out Greece and the rest of the financially-distressed euro zone. The International Monetary Fund has committed to providing the Europeans with a financing package totaling about 250 billion euros. The portion provided by American taxpayers, based on our 17.09% share of contributions to the IMF, is now at least $54 billion.
A handful of congressional Republicans steeped in the fiscal conservatism of the Tea Party have been agitating against backdoor U.S. bailouts for several years. In May 2010, for instance, Reps. Mike Pence of Indiana and Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, along with Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, introduced a bill prohibiting the IMF from using U.S. funds for the bailout of any foreign country in Greek-like straits. Similarly, Republicans in June 2009 attempted to block a $100 billion appropriation to the IMF for a $1.1 trillion economic-crisis bailout fund.
President Obama, who had pledged the money during a G-20 meeting that year, had buried the appropriation in a war-funding measure to avoid an up or down vote on the unpopular item. This outraged Minnesota Rep. John Kline, another Republican, who fumed: "I cannot support a bill that uses our military personnel currently in harm's way to advance a political agenda that includes a $100 billion international bailout that has nothing to do with our troops' safety or success." And Kline added: "Already this year, Congress has forced taxpayers to shoulder $700 billion in bailout money, $1 trillion on a so-called stimulus, $410 billion on a massive spending bill larded with pork-barrel projects and $3.6 trillion on a budget that spends too much, taxes too much and borrows too much. We should not tack on an additional $100 billion
(Excerpt) Read more at online.barrons.com ...
Bump
Speaking of 401(K): they will try to nationalize our private accounts to pay for their follies.
If We’re Dismantling Too Big To Fail ... why are we creating a huge international bailout fund? (4/13/2010)
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2010/pr10145.htm
For a nation that claims to be ending “too big to fail” sticking our people with $100 billion of the cost of this new bailout fund - a fund that we allegedly will never need because we’re going to fix the “too big to fail” problem - is rather interesting, no?
More importantly, what’s the rush?
If the financial system has been “stabilized”, if everything is ok, if the stock market is going up because the economy and financial system is healthy, why does the IMF suddenly need $500 billion, with 1/5th of it, roughly, provided by American tax money?
Or is the little ugly here that they know the problems haven’t been and won’t be fixed, and that at any time - all it takes is a trigger - there will be yet another rush for the exits, and this one no single sovereign government will be able to stop?
“Guess Who’s Paying For The Greece Bailout? That’s Right — YOU” (11/30/2010)
The bailout outrages never stop.
Of the 110-billion Euro Greece bailout, 30-billion (approx $40 billion) will be paid for by the IMF. The US supplies almost 20% of the IMF’s funding (per quotas). So that means US taxpayers are providing ~$8 billion of the $145 billion going to kick the Greek can down the road.
That’s the first outrage. (Why is this our problem?) The second outrage is that, as in some of the US bailouts, our bailout money is JUNIOR to Greece’s existing debt. That means that, over the next couple of years, the idiot banks that loaned bankrupt Greece money will get their money back. And then, when Greece runs out of cash again, we’ll be left holding the bag (along with Germany and the rest of the folks who bailed Greece out).
the good times never end if you’re a gubmint union employee.
If We’re Dismantling Too Big To Fail ... why are we creating a huge international bailout fund? (4/13/2010)
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2010/pr10145.htm
For a nation that claims to be ending “too big to fail” sticking our people with $100 billion of the cost of this new bailout fund - a fund that we allegedly will never need because we’re going to fix the “too big to fail” problem - is rather interesting, no?
More importantly, what’s the rush?
If the financial system has been “stabilized”, if everything is ok, if the stock market is going up because the economy and financial system is healthy, why does the IMF suddenly need $500 billion, with 1/5th of it, roughly, provided by American tax money?
Or is the little ugly here that they know the problems haven’t been and won’t be fixed, and that at any time - all it takes is a trigger - there will be yet another rush for the exits, and this one no single sovereign government will be able to stop?
“Guess Who’s Paying For The Greece Bailout? That’s Right — YOU” (11/30/2010)
The bailout outrages never stop.
Of the 110-billion Euro Greece bailout, 30-billion (approx $40 billion) will be paid for by the IMF. The US supplies almost 20% of the IMF’s funding (per quotas). So that means US taxpayers are providing ~$8 billion of the $145 billion going to kick the Greek can down the road.
That’s the first outrage. (Why is this our problem?) The second outrage is that, as in some of the US bailouts, our bailout money is JUNIOR to Greece’s existing debt. That means that, over the next couple of years, the idiot banks that loaned bankrupt Greece money will get their money back. And then, when Greece runs out of cash again, we’ll be left holding the bag (along with Germany and the rest of the folks who bailed Greece out).
the good times never end if you’re a gubmint union employee.
The Dictator Pro Tem has handed down his decision to the Proles. How long will it be before the DPT decides, like all men who consider themselves Great, that Pro Tem doesn't cut it and he needs more - much more - than a second four years to complete his work. There are already signs in the wind that he wants to do that. His current weekly end runs round Congress will give him a taste for more power. Once started, it cannot be stopped.
If 0bama is not held to the fire and can get away with crap like this, we will never bring the deficit down.
Too many Republicans support bailouts ... so they can’t use this against Obama.
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“Why is this our problem?”
Because our banks in the US are stuffed with the Greece bonds. And Portugal, and Spain and all the other PIIGS.
And so, once again, the banks will be saved while we the people pay for their risky bets. And continue to pay. And Congress had no say in the matter.
Taxation without Representation, indeed.
The two of us without cost to taxpayers just solved the problem.
It won't be considered however by the rino's and dimocrat's in office.
The GOP does have a majority in the House and the House is where all spending bills must, per the Constitution, originate.
If the GOP does not stop funding the IMF, it’s because the GOP doesn’t want to stop funding the IMF.
And if they don’t they will all lose they’re jobs
DEFUND socialist collectives, foreign and domestic (our troubles will be few, our taxes will be low, our country will be solvent, our citizens will be free)
Exactly.
Why would they stop the international bailouts now ? ... they’ve been on a roll. (not saying the Democrats are not in on it too).
No they won’t.
There are plenty of people right here on FR who support and defend the bailouts and have done so for over 3 years now.
"In fact, we looted the money we confiscated from ya'all, and lined our own pockets with fat government retirement pensions!"
"Now get back to work you ungrateful stupid SOB's so we can pay off Chin Tu Fat in Red China, Ali Baba in Jackassistan and our good friends the Greece.
Great. We borrow 100 billion from the Chinese to give to the EU to bail them out of their debt. Makes sense to me...
Or tell the dupes more taxes on the rich are good for them, and the dupes are perplexed as to why jobs are so hard to find as the money funds more bail-outs.
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