Top Bailed-Out Firms Have Money for Lobbying
WASHINGTON -- The top 10 recipients of the government's $700 billion financial bailout spent about $9.5 million on federal lobbying during the first three months of the year.
The biggest spender was bailed-out automaker General Motors Corp., which devoted $2.8 million to lobbying in the first quarter of 2009. It has received $13.4 billion in government loans and could get $5 billion more, according to a government report released Tuesday.
Failed insurance giant American International Group Inc. and banks Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. each reported spending more than $1 million to influence the government as they lived off federal money this year. AIG has gotten some $70 billion from the bailout fund -- including a fresh $30 billion infusion the government reported on Tuesday -- while Citigroup has received $45 billion and JPMorgan $25 billion.
I guess that's a winning proposition for these companies (as well as an "insurance" plan that can't be beat): spend $1 million to "make" $1 billion ... from public coffers.
It is said, "A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury," (attributed to Tytler, although it is disputed, but regardless of who said it, it is true) and that's why we have to be always vigilant.
There will always be flies where there's honey. The only way to get rid of the flies (or at least reduce them) is to reduce the honeypot. Make the government small. Make it a government policy not to "bail out" companies, "insure" debt unless where it's absolutely necessary (such as FDIC, which can be credited for reducing bank runs that used to be so destructive). Make sure that there is a very high standard (so high that it can scarcely be met in a century) to proof of likely outcome before the government acts—and make sure that outcome is to the general benefit of all and no significant detriment to anyone alive.
Nobody is ever "too big to fail". Next time, when someone argues that something is too big to fail, watch the money trails. Chances are, they have been paid even bigger bribes to say that these companies are too big to fail.