News
Release
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
June 12, 2009
Contact: Pia Brady,
Jennifer Brunner Committee Press Secretary
(Office) 614-602-6529 / (Cell)
614-579-7473
Brunner
Urges Congress to Reject IMF Bailout
Candidate Says Government Should Not Use Taxpayer Dollars to Bail Out
European Banks
COLUMBUS --
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner today called on the U.S. Senate to
reject the Obama Administration’s request for $108 billion in bailout funds for
the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“Many of the European banks made a series of risky and speculative loans in
central and eastern Europe that are likely to go into default,” Brunner said.
“We are looking conservatively at more than a trillion dollars in bad loans,
loans that the United States had no part in, and we simply cannot afford to
step in now and bail them out through the IMF. We have too many families and
our own institutions struggling here at home who need our help first.”
Some have argued that the money is necessary to help provide a global stimulus
and to help people in poverty in countries with poorer and less sophisticated
economies. But the actual amount of money that will go to assist these
countries is indirect and minute. Most of the money would aid struggling
European banks that are facing potential losses in the hundreds of billions of
dollars. That money would be sent via the IMF, which, unlike TARP funds, would
not be subject to any semblance of oversight of or accountability to the U.S.
Congress.
“American taxpayers are weary of business bailouts, especially ones that do not
help create American jobs,” Brunner added. “And as we speak, some American
banks are chafing at the regulations placed on them by the latest in bailout
funding and want to repay it quickly to have a say in their own operation and
to attract the best talent to their operations. Bailing out European
banks through the IMF, without even the minimal regulations placed on American
banks, only increases the potential for a wider imbalance in trade, giving away
American wealth and self-sufficiency, and jeopardizing not only our economy but
our traditional sense of American self-determination. Before aiding
foreign banks, Congress must demand a thorough auditing of the Federal Reserve
by the Government Accounting Office. We must protect our American tax dollars
and ultimately the wealth of our country for now and for future generations.
No bailouts without transparency and accountability,” stated Brunner.
Brunner also criticized the idea of putting American taxpayers deeper in debt.
“We have had to borrow money from other nations to bail out our own financial
institutions. In our current delicate situation, we should not borrow to
lend and perpetuate the ‘house of cards’ that put us here in the first place.
Nor should we burden our children and grandchildren with more debt and
higher deficits to let European financial institutions off the hook with no
consequence and with potential further deepening of our existing trade deficits
with other nations,” Brunner said. “Russia, China, Brazil and India are not
giving any money to the IMF. Nor should we.”
Brunner has been endorsed by national and local labor unions for her commitment
to labor issues and working families. She is currently running in the May
2010 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate to replace retiring Senator Voinovich.