AFP to Congress: Reject Speaker Pelosi’s Rushed Trillion Dollar Bailout  

Arlington, Va. – Americans for Prosperity (AFP) issued the following statement in response to Speaker Pelosi’s growing calls for Congress to “think big” and pass a trillion-dollar-plus spending bill to bail out state and local governments. Last week, AFP delivered a letter to Congress urging opposition to bailouts and announced a national effort to mobilize its grassroots activists against another such massive spending bill. The campaign includes digital ads that lead to a tool that empowers activists to contact their lawmakers.

AFP President Tim Phillips issued the following statement:

“Speaker Pelosi’s trillion-dollar plan to bail out decades of bad policymaking by some states undermines our economy’s ability to recover from this crisis and leaves us less prepared to respond to the next one. Lawmakers need to put the politics aside – this isn’t about red states or blue states, this is about what’s right and what’s wrong. It’s wrong to ask taxpayers across the country to bail out failing policies put in place by irresponsible politicians. ‘Thinking big’ should mean tearing down the barriers that stand in the way of economic prosperity, not bankrupting future generations to paper over structural problems that existed long before this crisis began. We urge Congress to reject this outrageous political wish list and instead prioritize reforms that can clear the way for people to get to work and for businesses to get up and running.”

Background:

AFP believes the path to economic recovery — across all of the United States and at the federal level– is to enact reforms that empower every person to contribute to the economy by:

• Challenging special interest politics and ending corporate welfare — bailout culture, subsidies, tax loopholes, etc. — so that success is based on contributing to the lives of others.
• Reforming or removing regulations that protect politically connected firms to lower the costs of health care, housing, and core services.
• Removing barriers to fulfilling work– such as reforming occupational licensing– to help families build a strong financial future.
• Removing barriers to innovation, to open new opportunities to create breakthroughs that radically improve our lives.
• Positioning government to play its vital role in the economy by securing equal rights: Ensuring equal treatment under the law, which is essential for long-term progress.

For further information or to set up an interview, please send an email to LIsidro@afphq.org.