Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers says “it doesn’t make sense for us to keep borrowing money from China in order to be bailing out countries in the European Union.”
McMorris Rodgers, the vice chairwoman of the Republican Conference, also says she’s “going to do everything I can to get a new president” when asked about reports that she could be the GOP’s vice presidential pick.
The congresswoman from Washington recently urged the White House to withhold money from the International Monetary Fund’s $37 billion dollar Greek bailout plan.
“When the IMF gets involved in bailing out the European Union, that means America is also getting involved because we pay the largest share to the IMF. We cover about 17 percent of what the IMF funds,” McMorris Rodgers told Newsmax.TV during an exclusive interview.
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Still, the IMF formally approved the $37 billion debt package for Greece last week.
“What I’d like to see first, is for these countries, starting with Greece, but also Italy, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain … I’d like to see them making the tough decisions. And we have not seen that. We have not seen a willingness on their part to change paths.”
McMorris Rodgers is one of 90 legislators who are pushing bills that would prevent the United States from contributing to the IMF to help Europe. She said the measure would also give Congress more control of U.S. involvement in the IMF.
“What has really been lacking in all of this is transparency. The [Obama] administration has failed to give any kind of accounting as to the commitments they have made on behalf of the U.S. taxpayers. It’s been very difficult for Congress to get information from the Treasury Department through the Obama administration,” McMorris Rodgers said.
When asked about the vice presidential report, McMorris Rodgers said: “What I’d like to say is it’s an honor for me to serve in Congress. And I work hard every day to be the best representative that I can be for the people of eastern Washington. I’m very concerned about the upcoming election. I believe that we need a new direction in America. That the policies that President Obama has been promoting are actually not working. They are making the situation worse and we need a new direction. And I’m going to be doing everything I can to get a new president come November of 2012.”
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