POLITICO

Federal Reserve lends bucket to EU bailout

By EAMON JAVERS | 5/12/10 5:01 AM


The International Monetary Fund -- which is 17 percent financed by American taxpayers -- says it is prepared to contribute up to $321 billion to the relief effort. AP

Concerned that U.S. taxpayers appear to be bailing out profligate European governments, the Obama administration is pushing back this week with a series of arguments that Americans won’t be on the hook for the EU bailout announced early this week.

Perhaps the only thing less popular in Washington than the U.S. Troubled Asset Relief Program bank bailout is the idea that Americans are going to the rescue of financially strapped Greeks.

“The bailout of Greece set a dangerous precedent of using American tax dollars for other European bailouts,â€