San Francisco, CA – With the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board scheduled to meet on Thursday to consider a $37 billion loan to Greece as part of the latest $171 billion bailout of that country, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Vice Chair of the House Republican Conference, called on the Obama Administration today to protect U.S. taxpayer dollars and vote “no” on the agreement.  The U.S. has the power to call for a vote at the IMF Executive Board, and all decisions put to a vote require a majority to pass.  The U.S. is the largest contributor to the IMF, with $165 billion at stake.  The total cost of the Greek bailouts has been estimated at $500 billion.

“At this point, it should be clear that America and the IMF are throwing good money after bad, and the only real solution is for Greece and the European Union to stop their borrowing addiction, instead of papering it over,” said Rep. McMorris Rodgers.”  In a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner last week, she noted that when the Greek bailouts began in May 2010, Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio was 113 percent.  Today, it’s 159 percent.  And Greece continues to run enormous deficits.  “There should be no deficits in Greece,” said Rep. McMorris Rodgers.  “There is no way for Greece to start reducing its debt burden until those deficits stop.  It’s just simple math.  Of course, that’s equally true for America.  We’re not that far behind.  Which is why we must start getting serious about protecting U.S. tax dollars and ending the ‘too big to fail to fail’ philosophy.  The only thing ‘too big to fail’ is America itself.” 

Rep. McMorris Rodgers is the author of HR 2313, which would rescind a $100 billion line of credit to the IMF (created in 2009, and known as the “New Arrangements to Borrow”), and which is being tapped for the European bailouts.  The bill has 92 cosponsors.

A compilation of the Congresswoman’s work on this issue can be found here.