Firms That Got Bailout Money Keep Lobbying

The Saturday Word: 'Matter-of-Fact'
The Caucus — ... that delays in confirming Mr. Obama’s cabinet picks “could be a sign that the shrunken Republican Party — with its core of determined conservatives intact — won’t be a pushover for the new president.” Among the things that don’t seem to have changed much since the first bailout: some of the big banks that received taxpayer funds are still spending big money on lobbying , report The Times’s David D. Kirkpatrick and Charlie Savage. Google is also ramping up its lobbying efforts, The ...

Obama: Um, I know some of you are skeptical about spending a trillion dollars
Hot Air » Top Picks — ... or the fact that the recipients of TARP I already have lobbyists in place to make sure they get theirs when it inevitably passes. According to Rasmussen, ...

Firms That Got Bailout Money Keep Lobbying
Democratic Underground Latest Breaking News — ... money, lobbying was just too unseemly. We are very sensitive to the fact that we have taxpayer money, said Shirley Norton, a spokeswoman for the company. Citigroup, recipient of another $45 billion, made the opposite call. While trying to keep a low profile, the company is still fielding an army of Washington lobbyists working on a host of issues, including the bailout. In the fourth quarter, it spent $1.77 million on lobbying fees, according to its lobbyists filings. Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/24/business/24lobby.html... Let me get this ...

Sunlight is to Lobbyists as Garlic is to Vampires
Firedoglake — ... Citigroup for some preferred stock, and guaranteed a bunch of worthless collateralized debt obligations for some more preferred. Their failed board of directors and top management are still in place, and we didn't wipe out their shareholders, who stand to reap enormous rewards from our largesse, and we didn't claw back the bonus pool from the bad bankers. Our reward for this incomparable generosity? In the fourth quarter alone, Citi took $1.77 million of our dollars, and spent it on lobbyists. It might be that Citi wants stuff from Congress that is in the national interest, but ...

Tomgram: Chalmers Johnson, Economic Death Spiral at the Pentagon
TomDispatch — ... lobbying disclosure reports, the Washington Times discovered "that 18 of the top 20 recipients of federal bailout money spent a combined $12.2 million lobbying the White House, the Treasury Department, Congress, and federal agencies during the last quarter of 2008." Citibank alone, according to the New York Times, fielded "an army of Washington lobbyists," plunking down $1.77 million in lobbying fees just in the fourth quarter of last year. ...

Economic Death Spiral at the Pentagon
Antiwar.com Original — ... lobbying disclosure reports, the Washington Times discovered "that 18 of the top 20 recipients of federal bailout money spent a combined $12.2 million lobbying the White House, the Treasury Department, Congress, and federal agencies during the last quarter of 2008." Citibank alone, according to the New York Times , fielded "an army of Washington lobbyists," plunking down $1.77 million in lobbying fees just in the fourth quarter of last year. And it isn't only sinking financial institutions begging for federal dollars that have bolstered their Washington ...

Want to Stop Bailed-Out Banks from Lobbying? It's Simple
TPM Election Central — ... Bank of America even claimed to the New York Times last month that it was "sensitive" enough to stop lobbying on the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) -- but the bank kept its in-house lobbyists and two private firms active on the issue, according to disclosure forms filed publicly with the Clerk of the House. (We've put a call in to B of A asking for clarification on this point.) ...

Citi Analyst Who Downgraded Walmart Stock on Anti-Employee Free Choice Call with US Chamber of Commerce
Firedoglake — ... Citi has received $50 billion in taxpayer bailout money. They, like Bank of America, are trying to pretend that there's some kind of iron wall that prevents bailout money from being used to lobby against Employee Free Choice--as if it isn't the bailout money that is keeping the doors open in the first place. ...