For Immediate Release Friday, December 12, 2008
Auto Bailout Will Only ‘Compound the Problem’
Former Congressman Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party’s 2008 presidential nominee, issued a statement condemning the proposed $15-billion bailout of the auto industry apparently nearing approval in the Congress. Barr said ‘the Faustian bargain’ the Big 3 automakers reached with lawmakers ‘compounds the problem’ of the massive bailouts backed by Congress and the Bush Administration, and apparently is structured so as to give the federal government a degree of involvement and control of GM, Ford, and Chrysler that the companies ‘will live to regret.’
Barr went on to say that while the auto industry has a better case for protection than insurance giant AIG, which already has secured some $85 billion in taxpayer-funded bailout money, the contemplated auto bailout will solve none of the underlying problems facing the industry or the economy. AIG, for example, Barr noted, was the ‘master of its own demise,’ and directly contributed to creating the current economic crisis; the auto companies did not. Other entities also responsible for creating the mortgage crisis, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were also given massive bailouts earlier in the year. It is difficult, given these precedents, to deny others the benefit already granted these other entities, but, Barr noted, we should not put even more taxpayer dollars at risk.
Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 and was the 2008 Libertarian Party Nominee for President.
For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with Congressman Barr, please email Andy MacPherson at andy@bobbarr.org , or call 1-800-BOB-BARR.
The Libertarian Party is America’s third largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting www.LP.org . The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.
