Senate Votes Support Hundred Billion Dollar Bailout of International Monetary Fund

Washington, DC – Although the United States is drowning in debt, the Senate voted to included a $108 billion bailout for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the recent passage of S. 1054 – the 2009 Supplemental Appropriations Act.  Senators voted 64-30 to reject an amendment offered by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C) that would have prevented the waste of billions of taxpayer dollars.  Those who voted against the amendment voted to irresponsibly bail out foreign banks and governments at the expense of the American taxpayer. 

The administration might claim that the money for the IMF is only a loan, but it still puts American taxpayers at risk for actions taken by the IMF and the countries to which they offer bailouts. 

FreedomWorks calls on Senators that backed DeMint’s amendment to vote against the final passage of the bill to save taxpayers billions and prevent even more bank bailouts. 

Limited government activists from across the country applaud Jim DeMint for presenting his amendment and those who voted in favor of it.   FreedomWorks will count S. 1054 as a KEY VOTE when calculating the FreedomWorks Economic Freedom Scorecard for 2009.  The FreedomWorks Economic Freedom Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the Jefferson Award, which recognizes members of Congress with voting records that support economic freedom.

FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe commented, “The political process employed to ram IMF funding through Congress is dishonest and deceitful.  Jim DeMint’s amendment would have stopped the underhanded political games being played on the Hill.  Congress can consider IMF funding on its own merits if they like, but it should not be paired together with a completely different appropriations bill for passage.  It is not right for American taxpayers to be burdened with bailing out the bad decisions of foreign governments and banks.”