June, 10 2009, 02:47pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
$200 Billion Supplemental: * Afghanistan * IMF and European Banks
WASHINGTON
The current version of the supplemental spending bill contains about
$100 billion for war in Iraq and Afghanistan and also about $100
billion for the IMF. A House vote in May passed with overwhelming
Republican support and 51 Democrats voting against -- but this did not
include the IMF funding, which Republicans are opposing. This means the
current supplemental could fail -- if enough of the 51 Democrats hold
their votes against the legislation.
The Wall Street Journal described the situation on Tuesday thus: "A
White House bid to push a $108 billion contribution to the
International Monetary Fund through Congress is in danger of unraveling
because of an unlikely coalition of Republicans, liberal Democrats and
anti-globalization activists."
JAKE DILIBERTO
Martha De Hoyos
A former marine, Diliberto is a founding member of Vets for Rethinking
Afghanistan. He said today: "Boots on the ground are doing more harm
than good in Afghanistan. Funding the troop increase will make America
less safe."
More Information
MARK WEISBROT, via Dan Beeton
Co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Weisbrot recently wrote the piece "The Next Big Taxpayer Bailout? IMF Could Get Hundreds of Billions for European Banks."
He said today: "It looks like the main purpose of the $100 billion for
the IMF is to bail out European banks. While some of the money will go
to low- and middle-income countries, the conditions attached generally
will worsen the economic downturns in these countries."
See: "With IMF Money, the War Supplemental Could Fail in the House."
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
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