Would these bailed-out firms really be considered a cash and carry case?”
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6811882&page=1 Banks and other companies taking federal bailout assistance spent $114 million on lobbying and campaign contributions last year, according to a new study. The Treasury Department last month announced rules to curb lobbying by firms who get a cut of the latest release of $350 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program funds. Critics have called those rules too little, too late – they don’t affect the millions in lobbying fees already paid out by bailed-out firms, and they don’t apply to lobbyists working the halls of Congress or regulatory agencies outside of Treasury. “Taxpayers hope their money is being allocated entirely on the merits, but with Congress controlling how much money the Treasury gets to hand out, it will be impossible to completely exclude politics from this process,” said Sheila Krumholz of
