GOP Senators to IMF: Stop $108 Billion Bailout to European Countries

A new bill, if it passes and is signed by the President, would prevent the International Monetary Fund from using U.S. tax money to bail out basket cases in Europe, including Greece.

GOP Senators Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), David Vitter (R-Louisiana) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) recently introduced the amendment to the Economic Development Revitalization Act.

The amendment would prevent the IMF from tapping $108 billion in taxpayer dollars to bail out countries overseas, including the highly leveraged Greece, the senators said in a statement.

The Obama Administration in 2009 sanctioned access by the IMF to additional funding of up to $108 billion, money that can be used to bail out foreign countries, the senators noted.

The new "Anti-IMF Bailout Amendment" would strike language that allows the IMF to use these addition bailout funds.

Our nation is on the brink of bankruptcy and American taxpayers simply cannot afford to bailout Europe, Sen. DeMint said in a statement.

The senator pointed to the U.S.'s own debt to GDP ratio, which "is now 95%," noting "that is one of the worst debt to GDP ratings in the world, even higher than Ireland and Portugal. If we dont our reverse our reckless fiscal course, America will be the one in need of a bailout. We need to stop the spending, stop the debt, and pass a balanced budget amendment.

Sen. Hatch said in the statement: Now is not the time, when Americans are struggling to find work and have budget problems of their own, to tap innocent American taxpayers in order to bail out profligate European governments,

Sen. Hatch added: Now is the time, however, to stop our own runaway spending and our continued movement toward European levels of government. If we go down that route, the destination is an America very different than the one our Founders intended, and it is critical that we hit the brakes now and save our limited constitutional government.

Quite frankly, the federal government needs to get out of the bailout business, added Sen. Vitter in the statement. Bailing out Greece while America is nearing bankruptcy is just puzzling, but some of us in the Senate are working to actually address our increasing deficit, like working to pass a balanced budget amendment.

Sen. Cornyn agreed. American taxpayers have seen more bailouts than they can stomach, and the last thing they should have to worry about are their hard-earned tax dollars being used to rescue a foreign government, said Sen. Cornyn in the statement.