February 26rd, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government today in a letter urged Congress to stop the $2.8 trillion bank bailout that is “only burdening us, our children—and our children’s children—with a mountain of debt that can never possibly be paid back.”
“Enough is enough,” said Wilson in a statement. “Congress has completely abdicated the power of the purse to keep afloat a financial system that doesn’t work for the American taxpayer or the American people.”
“We are hopelessly descending into bankruptcy, and Congress does not appear to have the political will to stop it,” Wilson added.
Three days ago, ALG launched StopBailouts.net, an online petition in response to President Barack Obama’s $2.8 trillion financial plan to urge Congress to halt what ALG President Bill Wilson termed the “greatest theft in human history.”
According to the letter, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s financial plan is unconstitutional, which includes up over $2 trillion to be committed by the Treasury and Federal Reserve without a vote.
Wilson urged Congress to follow the law, “on behalf of our hundreds of thousands of members nationwide hereby call upon you to fulfill your mandated duty as enunciated under Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 of the U.S. Constitution: ‘No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law…’”
The letter also called upon Congress to reject H.R. 1106, the mortgage-bankruptcy cram-down legislation that “give bankruptcy judges the arbitrary authority to reduce mortgage principals, lower rates, and otherwise modify the terms of loans.”
Wilson believes, according to the letter, that the bill would add “more uncertainty as to which mortgages may ultimately be modified.”
Wilson believes that the government interventions have prevent mortgage-backed securities from finding their market value, “which is perpetuating the crisis needlessly.”
According to the letter, “The reason the securities cannot be valued is because it is continually unclear, based on shifting government plans, which ones will be worthless at the end of the day.”
Wilson believes that Congress is the only body that has the power to “stop the bailouts once and for all.”
“We are urging Congressmen and women, and Senators, to take back the power of the purse before it is too late. The nation is going bankrupt—we’re $11 trillion in debt with a $1.2 trillion budget deficit this year, and we’re begging the Chinese to lend us more money that even they might not have,” Wilson added.
“And if Congress does not stop it, no one will,” Wilson concluded.
Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.