Carter Says Repeal Stimulus, Return Money to Taxpayers
Washington, DC,
July 10, 2009
Soaring Unemployment, Record-Setting Deficits, New AIG Bonuses: Carter Says Repeal Stimulus, Return Money to Taxpayers In spite of soaring unemployment expected to top 10% and the nation’s economic future in peril from record-setting deficit spending on the Democrat’s $787 billion stimulus package, multimillionaire executives at the scandal-plagued insurance giant AIG are planning to pay themselves millions more in bonuses with taxpayer money. "Enough’s enough," says U.S. Rep. John Carter (R-TX). "The stimulus plan has failed, and we need to end the giveaways before the taxpayers and the recovery are damaged further. The fact that AIG is planning millions more in bonuses with stimulus monies while two million more working Americans lost their jobs since the stimulus passed says it’s time to regain some economic sanity in this country. I have no problem with any company paying their employees whatever they like and reaping the results - but not with taxpayer money. We need to get our money back" Carter voted against both the Bush and Obama Administration’s bailout bills as anti-free market giveaways that would prolong the nation’s recovery from recession and undermine future economic growth for decades. Carter, House Republican Conference Secretary, today co-sponsored the Reducing Barack Obama’s Unsustainable Deficit Act, H.R. 3140 – the "REBOUND Act". The legislation, developed by the Republican Study Committee, the coalition of House conservatives, repeals and recovers all unspent funds from the Bush Administration Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) plan and the Obama Administration American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the Stimulus Plan), while retaining tax relief and unemployment benefits. Repeals the spending portion of the President’s "stimulus" package – saving taxpayers $460 billion Leaves intact the package’s tax relief and unemployment benefits Prohibits the Treasury Secretary from obligating any further TARP funds – saving taxpayers $150 billion Requires all repayments of TARP money to go exclusively to debt reduction - no open-ended slush fund Carter says he believes the measure can be enacted in one of two ways. "The American people are fed up with the economic direction of the Congress," says Carter. "Either we pass this now, which will be very tough in Nancy Pelosi’s liberal House, or this can be the first vote of a new conservative Congress in January 2011." ### |