TARP Bailout Money = Republican Corporate Campaign Contributions

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I bet American taxpayers are going to be pissed when they learn about this. Who new the TARP bailout was to bail out the GOP?

The Washington Post reports Companies that received bailout money giving generously to candidates:

Companies that received federal bailout money, including some that still owe money to the government, are giving to political candidates with vigor. Among companies with PACs, the 23 that received $1 billion or more in federal money through the Troubled Assets Relief Program gave a total of $1.4 million to candidates in September, up from $466,000 the month before.

Most of those donations are going to Republican candidates, although the TARP program was approved primarily with Democratic support. President Obama expanded it to cover GM and other automakers.

* * *

Some of the generosity to Republicans can be explained by the expectation that the party will make huge gains in Congress. But another factor is the Democratic Party's push for financial-regulation legislation this year. The new law, which passed the Senate with the votes of three Republicans and all but one Democrat, placed new curbs on banks and introduced a regulator to vet financial products for consumers. Most Republicans, and banks, say the law creates too many new restrictions.

Scott Talbott, a lobbyist with the Financial Services Roundtable, said another factor could be the tone some Democrats used against financial firms. At one point, Obama called Wall Street executives "fat cats."

The banksters of Wall Street who created a giant Ponzi scheme that nearly destroyed the world's financial system and took the world's economy to the brink of a second Great Depression – while still collecting their obscene bonuses rewarding failure – are upset that anyone should point out that they are responsible for the economic collapse ;and should be held accountable. Their supreme arrogance is breathtaking. "Someone's going to emergency, someone's going to jail."

The two top recipients of money from companies receiving TARP funds are the top two House Republicans, Minority Leader John A. Boehner (Ohio) with $200,000 and Republican Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) with $187,000. They are followed by the ranking members of two key House committees, Spencer Bachus (Ala.) on Financial Services and Dave Camp (Mich.) on the tax-writing committee.

The Republican Party itself is getting some of the bank contributions. Seven financial firms have given the maximum $15,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee in each of the past two years, including American Express, Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs – a total of $210,000.

A new ad by the NRSC running in Alaska shows a black-and-white photo of Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "They're out of control – government takeovers, Wall Street bailouts," the ad says as photos stamped with red ink pile up.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has taken $93,500 from companies that received TARP funds. The committee did not accept money from companies while they owed the government, except for one $15,000 donation from Capital One.

Citigroup, one of the few top recipients that has not paid back all that it owes the government, in September gave $30,000 to Republicans including Camp and Bachus. It also cut $12,000 in checks to Democrats, including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (Md.).

So Republicans are running against the TARP bailout claiming it was a failure – it was not: Shocker! TARP a success and may conceivably turn a profit – while simultaneously taking that dirty, dirty federal TARP bailout money from bailed out financial corporations as campaign contributions, in exchange for a promise to repeal financial services regulations to allow said financial corporations to return to the status quo that put us in this hole in the first place.

How can anyone seriously consider electing these tools to office? It's like handing your keys to a thief and telling him "please steal my car and rob my house. Help yourself."

UPDATE: Steve Benen at The Washington Monthly reminded me of an important point to always make: "The financial industry bailout was requested by a conservative Republican administration (George W. Bush and Dick Cheney). It was enthusiastically endorsed by the House Republican leadership (John Boehner [who tearfully begged Republicans to vote for it on the House floor], Eric Cantor, and Roy Blunt), the Senate Republican leadership (Mitch McConnell and Jon Kyl), both members of the Republican presidential ticket (John McCain [who suspended his campaign to come back to Washington to pass it] and Sarah Palin), and assorted, high-profile conservative voices (Mitt Romney and Glenn Beck)."

All of this disappeared down the memory hole as they now claim they were opposed to TARP.