Another Taxpayer Watchdog Group Opposes DM&E Loan

FreedomWorks, a taxpayer watchdog group whose motto is "Lower taxes, less government, more freedom," released a letter today by the group's chairman, former Republican congressman Dick Armey, criticizing a proposed $2.3 billion Federal Railroad Administration loan for the DM&E Railroad. Armey writes that the loan would be the largest in the history of the federal government, and that it would

... put federal funds into competition with private capital. Furthermore, sweetheart provisions of the loan such as delayed repayment are suspect. The proposed loan is indicative of the significant expansion of the federal government’s role in the rail industry that was highlighted by an earmark in the 2005 Transportation Bill that expanded the FRA’s loan authority to $35 billion under this program—a tenfold increase.

FreedomWorks joins a number of other taxpayer rights groups in opposing the proposed loan, including the National Taxpayers Union and the Taxpayers League of Minnesota. Information about support for the loan is available from the Growth Opportunity Through Rail Access Coalition (GOTRAC). Arguments opposing the loan can be found at Track the Truth.