August 6, 2009

Vitter Introduces Amendment to End Bailouts

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Sen. David Vitter today introduced an amendment to the “Cash for Clunkers” bill that would end the bailout program at the end of the calendar year.

“Although it was sold to the American people as some sort of magic bullet, the bailout program has instead been a serious burden on the economy since its inception last fall,” said Vitter. “By ending the bailouts we can limit the loss of further taxpayer dollars and help remove the federal government from the private marketplace.”

Vitter’s amendment would strike the provision in the Troubled Assets Relief Program statute that allows U.S Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner to extend bailout authority for an additional two years from the date of its enactment. TARP’s authority is currently set to expire at the end of 2009.

“The White House has used TARP in ways that were not necessarily endorsed by everyone in Congress,” Vitter said. “By inserting government into mortgages, banking, credit and automobiles, the market has been seriously compromised, and it’s time we took the steps to get the government out of these businesses. This amendment would end the bailout program this year, preventing the administration from spending more taxpayer money to fund further government intrusion into American businesses.”