August 5th, 2010, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today urged the House of Representatives to “either reject the $26.1 billion bailout to balance bankrupt state budgets like New York and California or stay home.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pulling members of Congress away from the August recess for a special session to vote on legislation that includes $16.1 billion for state Medicaid spending and $10 billion for public teachers funding.
“The American people are sick of these endless bailouts. The message to House members is to vote ‘no’ for another $26.1 billion for the states, or don’t go. The states already got $145 billion in the $862 billion ‘stimulus,” Wilson said, adding, “This is just the latest example of the theft of taxpayers by Nancy Pelosi’s House to pay off teachers union bosses in states that refuse to balance their own budgets.”
“While Americans are struggling to balance their family budgets, politicians in state capitals and in Washington refuse to balance theirs. Instead, government’s solution is to borrow and print more money, and to raise taxes to pay for the unsustainable obligations government has created,” Wilson explained.
The legislation will also limit the use of the Section 956 foreign income tax credits for profits generated overseas.
“If members vote in favor of eliminating the foreign income tax credit, they will be guaranteeing higher unemployment and reduce future capital investment in the U.S, as jobs and business capital will simply be shifted overseas,” Wilson said. “That money simply will not be repatriated into the economy, and could cost the economy $149 billion annually without generating any significant revenue.”
The legislation has already passed the Senate, and a vote in the House could come as early as Tuesday in the special session.
Wilson said that the bailout would disproportionately favor those states that spent the most money: “Out of the estimated 3.3 million public school teachers nationwide, teachers unions were expecting 160,000 layoffs this year — just 4.8 percent of all teachers. 38.1 percent of those layoffs are centered in just three states: 9,000 in New Jersey, 16,000 in New York and 36,000 in California.”
“Making matters worse, once the bailout is converted into public teachers union dues, taxpayers will have financed an additional $40 million to the union bosses’ political coffers, all to help elect Democrats,” Wilson noted.
Wilson concluded, “The American people are watching closely to see who their representatives stand with, bankrupt states and greedy public teachers unions, or taxpayers. Members should either vote no, or don’t go — don’t attend Pelosi’s special give-away session.”
Attachments:
“House to End Recess Early to Bail Out Bankrupt States,” by ALG President Bill Wilson, August 5th, 2010.
“The Return of the States Bailout,” by ALG President Bill Wilson, August 2nd, 2010.
“The Reverse Smoot-Hawley Act,” by ALG President Bill Wilson, August 4th, 2010.
“Special Research Report from Americans for Limited Government on the Report, ‘Unfair Advantage,’” Americans for Limited Government, August 2010.
“Radical Left-Wing Non-Profits Aligned with Sen. Levin Falsely Posture as Small Business Advocates,” by Kevin Mooney, August 3rd, 2010.
Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.
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