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Federal Bailouts Are Unfair, Irresponsible, and Unrelated to COVID-19 Pandemic

Group calls for continued targeted relief for
those who are being impacted by global pandemic

Arlington, VA) – The LIBRE Initiative, a national organization committed to empowering the Hispanic community, recently sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to reject proposals to provide federal funding to states and localities for costs unrelated to COVID-19.

Daniel Garza, president of The LIBRE Initiative, issued the following statement:

“It’s disappointing to see that some policymakers want to use this terrible crisis to push for taxpayer handouts. A federal bailout is unnecessary, wasteful, and unfair. We should be focusing on helping the people who are hurting, not bailing out the bad decisions of irresponsible politicians. There are better ways to help people than a one-size-fits-all trillion dollar federal spending bill.”

Garza went on to add:

“For the Hispanic community, runaway spending unchecked is particularly problematic. As one of the youngest demographic groups, Latinos will be on the hook to pay for bailouts in the future.”

Background:

According to the most recent census estimates, Latinos are much younger than the nation as a whole – the most common age being 11 years old and the median age being 29.5 years old  – nearly 10 years younger than the median age of the U.S. population. Therefore, when our government continuously takes on more debt, or raises income taxes, or reforms education, it’s making decisions that will affect our future in important ways for decades to come

Moreover, according to a recent report from the Congressional Budget Office, federal spending hit a record high of nearly $4.5 trillion last year – that’s equivalent to $36,000 per American household. And even though tax revenue also set a record, we added almost $1 trillion to the national debt.

As Latinos become a larger and larger share of the workforce and economy, they will pay more of the taxes that support this spending.