The 60 Second Update with

Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis

5. Should the United States bailout the IMF?

In the midst of Congress spending more money than Americans give it to spend, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the G-20 have proposed an increase in the International Monetary Fund’s lending power by $500 billion -- $100 billion of which will come from the United States.

The only thing we’re growing here in Washington is taxpayer debt in the form of a line of credit to the IMF that assumes little to no losses from their loans. There are already plans at IMF to loan money with few strings attached --  loan approvals have been sped up to occur in as little as 48 to 72 hours. While historically, most IMF loans are not defaulted on, that’s also because they are sound loans – something that can no longer be guaranteed. 

President Obama said it himself: “currencies could collapse.”  If the international monetary system continues to falter, it will be difficult enough for the U.S. to prop up its own economy, much less the rest of the world.  We have already put the American taxpayers on the hook for the financial failure of certain private industries.  Trillions of dollars have been handed out. Can we afford to take on new global problems as well?

 Question 1. Is the Obama Budget going to raise my taxes?