Concerned that U.S. taxpayers appear to be bailing out profligate European governments, the Obama administration is pushing back this week with a series of arguments that Americans won’t be on the hook for the EU bailout announced early this week.
Perhaps the only thing less popular in Washington than the U.S. Troubled Asset Relief Program bank bailout is the idea that Americans are going to the rescue of financially strapped Greeks.
“The bailout of Greece set a dangerous precedent of using American tax dollars for other European bailouts,” Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) said on Monday.
“With Portugal, Spain and perhaps others to follow in Greece’s footsteps in the near future, this action shows the Obama administration is headed down a dangerous path of bailing out European countries at a time when we face our own debt crisis,” he said.
The United States is involved in the European rescue in two ways.
First, the International Monetary Fund — which is 17 percent financed by American taxpayers — says it is prepared to contribute up to $321 billion to the relief effort, with certain caveats. - Politico Story
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