Conservatives Seek to Block IMF Bailout of Europe

There is talk that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will play a greater role in bailing out beleaguered European economies such as Italy and Spain. And conservative congressmen are working to see to it that doesn’t happen, The Hill reports.

The worry is that U.S. taxpayers will be on the hook in a major way, as the United States is the biggest contributor to the IMF, providing about 17 percent of its budget.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., says he plans to introduce legislation telling the Obama administration to veto an enlarged role for the fund.

Senate Republican Steering Committee Chairman Jim DeMint and Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a member of the House Republican leadership, are set to introduce such legislation too.

“I’m adamantly against the IMF being involved in this,” Coburn said. “We’re throwing good money after bad down a hole that I think is not a solvable problem.”