Time to End IMF
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested in the first-class cabin of an Air France jet bound for Paris on Saturday. The French socialist who is nicknamed the “le grand séducteur” or Great Seducer was charged with attempted rape, unlawful imprisonment and a criminal sex act. A New York grand jury formally indicted him yesterday on seven counts related to the alleged sexual assault of a maid in a fancy $3,000-a-night Midtown Manhattan hotel over the weekend. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and Strauss-Kahn does have at least two other women accusing the married socialist of previous sexual misconduct. But what he is clearly guilty of is working to advance the political interests of the power elite at the expense of everyone else as head of the IMF.
The good news is that DSK (as he is known to his supporters) resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday. Unfortunately, we’re still forced to foot the bill for the international bureaucracy. Dominique Strauss-Kahn and other privileged IMF bureaucrats have lived large on the U.S. taxpayer’s dime. U.S. taxpayers subsidize the IMF to the tune of billions of dollars annually. We have the largest stake in the IMF contributing roughly 17.09 percent of its total funding. Despite our payments to the IMF, our elected representatives in Congress have no authority to directly control the actions of the international organization. Unelected bureaucrats at the IMF have the ultimate power to dictate fiscal and monetary policy on a global scale.
As a self-proclaimed socialist, Strauss-Kahn claims to support wealth redistribution. He has said that “gaping income gaps threaten social and economic stability.” Dominique Strauss-Kahn seems to never let anything get in the way of his privileged lifestyle. He earned $420,000 a year in salary plus pension contributions and generous benefits. These job benefits included $75,000 annually to solely pay for his house in Washington, D.C. The European media has dubbed him to be a “champagne socialist” since he’s been known to ride around in lavish Porsches. Dominique Strauss-Kahn has a special arrangement to always fly first class. His IMF contract stated that “your travel on official Fund business…shall be in first class.” Strauss-Kahn was known to jet-set around the world in style while violating our national sovereignty.
How then can the American people trust the IMF with their hard earned money? As Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex.) stated “these are the kinds of people who are running the IMF and we want to turn the world’s finances and the control of the money supply [over] to them?” The problems with the IMF go far beyond Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s lack of character. The international bureaucracy itself is an immoral and unconstitutional organization. It no longer serves its original purpose under the Bretton Woods system which ended in 1971. Instead of shutting down, it found a new role as an international bailout fund. The IMF regularly puts taxpayers on the hook to bailout powerful banks and profligate foreign nations. According to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, “IMF loans are used to rescue wealthy, politically connected bankers, investors, and financiers at the expense of domestic taxpayers.”
Even worse, the IMF has a long history of fueling third-world dictators. IMF loans and bailouts are government to government transfers. A Joint Economic Committee study says that, “evidence suggests that the IMF knowingly makes loans to corrupt governments while recognizing that some of its loan conditions and procedures can create circumstances promoting additional corruption.” The IMF has given taxpayer funds to the Mubarak regime in Egypt and the Khadafi regime in Libya. It’s clear that these IMF loans have hurt the average citizen in these authoritarian nations.
The recent arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn is just another reminder of the corruption present at the IMF. The alleged behavior of Strauss-Kahn has diverted much needed public attention to the unethical international bureaucracy. Rumors are swirling that the Former Prime Minster of Britain Gordon Brown may seek to fill the vacant position. The IMF will remain a dangerous institution no matter who becomes the new head. With the U.S. federal government facing a record national debt, it’s time to stop sending money to this international bailout fund.
Click here to sign FreedomWorks’ petition to stop the International Monetary Fund’s bailouts.
