ALG Praises Senate for Defeating $10 Billion States Bailout in War Supplemental, Calls for House to Pass Clean Bill

July 23rd, 2010, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement praising the Senate for defeating a House-passed version of the war supplemental that included $10 billion state education funding:

“The Senate has acted responsibly to defeat the House-passed version of the war supplemental that included a $10 billion political slush fund to bail out bankrupt states like New York and California. These states simply refuse to make the necessary cuts to balance their budgets. The $10 billion was set to go directly to the state teachers unions as a handout.

“The onus is now on the House to pass a clean war supplemental prior to the August recess, when the Department of Defense will be forced to cut combat pay. Defense Secretary Bob Gates has told Congress that failure to do so could result in a failure to pay active-duty military, and General Petraeus has called the supplemental ‘essential for the conduct of this mission.’

“Nancy Pelosi needs to stop playing politics with funding American troops in harm’s way. The nation’s troops are not chips on a table for political horse-trading, and now is the time to stop holding them hostage to public sector union politics. To do otherwise is tantamount to extortion.”

Attachments:

Troops’ Funding Held Hostage by Public Sector Union Politics, by ALG President Bill Wilson, June 28th, 2010.

“Driving Right Off the Cliff,” by ALG President Bill Wilson, June 16th, 2010.

ALG Letter to Congress Against States Bailout, May 27th, 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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