“Bailout Bonanza Must Come to an End”

Washington, DC – Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Vice Chair of the House Republican Conference, released the following statement after the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), Neil Barofsky, announced today that “Federal support for the nation’s financial system…has actually increased 23% over the past year, from approximately $3 trillion to $3.7 trillion.”

“To enjoy the benefits of a free market economy, the federal government can’t continue to take trillions of dollars away from hard-working families and small businesses and use that money to reward the politically connected,” said Rep. McMorris Rodgers.  “By creating such an enormous moral hazard, the government is perpetuating a climate of uncertainty which limits investment, growth, and job creation.  There can't be a full recovery on Main Street until we stop Washington's growing culture of bailouts.”

Rep. McMorris Rodgers opposed the Wall Street bailout, the auto bailout, and is leading the charge against U.S. participation in the International Monetary Fund’s $320 billion bailout of the European Union.