Frustrated by the US government's rescue of AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a group of 100 conservative congressmen today urged the Bush administration to stop keeping Wall Street afloat. In a letter to the treasury secretary and Federal Reserve chairman, members of the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) lamented the abandonment of free-market principles. Rescuing failing financial firms has "set a dangerous and unmistakable precedent for the federal government both to be looked to and relied upon to save private sector companies from the consequences of their poor economic decisions," the RSC members wrote. Though the RSC has carried significant influence with Republican leaders in recent years, this week's economic implosion has stoked longstanding tension between conservatives and the Bush administration into a full-blown ideological rift. The government takeover of private businesses under a Republican president's watch has left conservatives reeling.
In a letter to the treasury secretary and Federal Reserve chairman, members of the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) lamented the abandonment of free-market principles.
Rescuing failing financial firms has "set a dangerous and unmistakable precedent for the federal government both to be looked to and relied upon to save private sector companies from the consequences of their poor economic decisions," the RSC members wrote.
Though the RSC has carried significant influence with Republican leaders in recent years, this week's economic implosion has stoked longstanding tension between conservatives and the Bush administration into a full-blown ideological rift.
The government takeover of private businesses under a Republican president's watch has left conservatives reeling.
