On the recordMay 17, 2010
This amendment will help protect American taxpayers from bailouts of foreign governments. Greece is going to get $40 billion in loans from the IMF, out of which $7 billion is attributable to the contributions of the American taxpayer. They shouldn't have to do that unless we have an assurance we will be paid back. The second point is that Greece's current public debt relative to its gross domestic product is 115 percent--meaning it owes more money than its entire economy produces. Under the President's budget, in 2020, looking at the same metric for the U.S. Government--our debt will be 90 percent of our gross domestic product. If we are not careful, America will turn into Greece and need a bailout, except there won't be anybody there to bail us out, including the American taxpayer. I ask my colleagues to support the amendment.
