Greece to Receive $54 Billion Bailout from U.S. Taxpayers

The EU (European Union) and the IMF (International Monetary Fund) are bailing Greece out of the problem it got into as a result of socialist policies and unchecked government growth.  Greece has been living far beyond it’s means for many years and now it’s time to pay the piper — except it’s not the Greeks who seem to be paying.

The IMF is funding about a third of the $952 Billion bailout.  The U.S. is providing approximately 17% of the IMF bailout funds.  This is approximately $54 Billion USD.

This is such a politically toxic decision that the IMF may engage in a type of childish shell game where dollars are drawn from other sources to bail out Greece and then dollars from the U.S. taxpayers are used to replenish those sources.  This will prevent funds moving from the U.S. directly to Greece.

Greece is a sad tale of government gone wrong.  The World Bank ranks Greece 16th (out of 16) Eurozone nations in terms of fighting government corruption.  Transparency International ranks it 27th (out of 27) in terms of governmental corruption.

The Greeks were simply voting themselves money that their nation didn’t have. This brings to mind the hockey-stick like growth of the Federal budget under Barack Obama and it does not make good predictions for the future of the United States.  Who will bail out the U.S. when we fail?