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 $40 billion from the bailout fund, while Citigroup has received $50 billion and JPMorgan $25 billion.

The lobbying activity was revealed publicly in reports required to be filed with Congress. This year's first quarterly report was due Monday.

Other major recipients of money from the so-called Troubled Assets Relief Program were Bank of America Corp., which reported spending $660,000 lobbying while receiving its $45 billion in help; Wells Fargo & Company, with $700,000 in lobbying costs and $25 billion in bailout money; Goldman Sachs, which spent $670,000 while receiving its $10 billion; and Morgan Stanley, which spent $540,000 while also getting $10 billion in assistance.

PNC Financial Services Group, spent $135,000 — nearly double what it did at the end of last year — on lobbying while receiving a $7.8 billion lifeline, while U.S. Bancorp spent $170,000 on lobbying and got $6.6 billion in government aid.

The reports suggest that most of the bailed-out companies have beefed up their lobbying at least marginally since last year. Seven spent more to influence the government than they did in the last quarter of 2008.

The largest increases apart from PNC were by Goldman, which spent 34 percent more on lobbying than it did at the end of last year; Wells Fargo, which spent about 21 percent more, and JPMorgan, which lobbied 19 percent more. AIG also devoted some 16 percent more money to interacting with the government, despite the "no-lobbying" policy it adopted late last year after receiving repeated bailouts.

AIG said in its filing that it still had to spend considerable resources contacting officials during the first three months of the year. The communication was "in response to requests and to correct misinformation," the company reported. "Consistent with AIG's lobbying policy, the company did not engage in any lobbying with respect to federal legislation in the first quarter of 2009."

The disclosures also show that AIG has fired several lobbyists since the beginning of the year, including from the powerhouse firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, the prominent Republican company DC Navigators and The Washington Tax Group.

Among the companies that reduced their lobbying activity were Bank of America, which slashed its costs about 20 percent, and GM, which spent 15 percent less than during the last quarter of 2008.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090421/ap_on_re_us/us_bailout_banks_lobbying

This must stop!

sorry to say

to outlaw lobbying would be unconstitutional

as to not giving access to their elected officials

but lobbying to officials not from the district you are in yes that should be stopped

Isnt that the difference between donating and lobbying?
That and paying to obtain votes on a bill?

i think we kinda agree on this one as well

ya wanna argue about it

Why, did you expect they would not?

They are exercising "thank you very much, may I have another".

I was wondering what had those Republicans together here lately.
Now I see it was the corporate lobbyists' green!
But, I was going to get political about this!

I don't care which party the guilty belong.
I'd almost bet there are some on both sides.
I don't care,
but it needs to stop!

May-be we should bail them out just one more time, the last one? For the sake of the economy?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21486.html

Obama's new lobbying rules ineffective. Step up to the plate, Mr. President. Seems like you made some strong remarks about this during your campaign. Oh well, its just something else you have forgotten about.