Dear Friend,
Last week President Obama welcomed German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the United States. What made this state visit newsworthy was that the President pledged U.S. support for a second bailout for Greece - using funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - to prevent the Euro from collapsing. "So we do see clearly our European responsibility and we're shouldering that responsibility, together with the IMF,” Obama said. But when our own credit card is maxed out, this is the wrong time to be over-committing. Texans don’t want their tax dollars going to help the Greek population retire at 50.
It is common for Presidents to make financial commitments to world leaders. In fact, this President has committed over $11,000,000,000 since taking office. Last year alone he pledged $4 billion to fight HIV around the world and in 2009 pledged $3.5 billion for agricultural development while at the G-8 summit.
To be clear, the Administration does not have their own pot of money. He can make all the pledges he wants to but we have a responsibility in Congress to stop him when we can’t afford his promises. At a time when we are looking at cutting everything, there is no appetite to send more U.S. tax dollars to bailout European governments.
Sincerely,
Kay Granger