Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement in response to reports that the Obama administration is in talks with Citigroup to acquire up to 40 percent of the bank’s common stock.

“The corporate welfare mentality must end,” said Rep. Price. “Throwing taxpayer money at Wall Street’s problems is an ineffective stopgap that only keeps investors on the sidelines and delays real recovery. The mixed signals and persistent meddling coming from Washington have already been enough to lock up needed capital. Do we want to drive further down that road? To truly restore investors’ confidence and unleash congested capital, we must assure the market that the government will not continue to intervene in the private sector.”