FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 29, 2010

Rep. Paulsen Sponsors YouCut Measure To Stop Wasteful Spending
“Terminate the TARP Program Prohibiting any Additional Bailouts”

Washington, D.C. – House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (VA-07) and Rep. Erik Paulsen (MN-03) released the following statement announcing this week’s YouCut winner; a proposal to terminate the TARP program and prohibit any additional bailouts. This proposal would likely save taxpayers several billion dollars over the next ten years. The YouCut initiative recently received its 2,000,000th vote, according to Rep. Cantor, a testament to the overwhelming response and outcry by the American public.

“Our country cannot continue down the path of fiscal recklessness,” said Rep. Paulsen. “As government spending continues at an alarming rate, I am proud to sponsor this week’s YouCut proposal to terminate the TARP program and save taxpayers billions of dollars in the years to come.”

"This week’s winning item is a proposal by Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN) that would finally bring closure to the TARP program,” said Cantor. “The plan would end TARP as a source of funding for any further bailouts, potentially saving the taxpayers several billion dollars, which would instead go to pay down the debt. Implementing this initiative would reduce moral hazard across numerous industries and government programs while signaling that the days of bailing out irresponsible decision makers are over.”

Description of this week’s winning proposal:

Terminate the TARP Program Prohibiting Any Additional Bailouts
Save taxpayers potentially several billion dollars over the next ten years

While the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is supposed to end on October 3rd, under a provision of the recently enacted financial regulation bill it is still possible for the government to make new bailouts through any program that was already in place on June 25, 2010. This could include additional commitments to AIG and or additional commitments to the Administration’s mortgage modification programs. In August it was estimated that spending from TARP will range between $4 billion and $7 billion a year between 2011 and 2014, mainly for the Administration’s mortgage programs. Acting to terminate TARP now may reduce these expenditures.

For more information on this week’s YouCut spending proposal, visit the YouCut website and watch this week’s video.

For more information on Rep. Paulsen’s work in Congress, please visit www.paulsen.house.gov.

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