Where is your tax money going?

So I read this article this morning. Entitled "Bailed-out firms spend millions on lobbying." Yes, it is as bad as it sounds.


"Top recipients of federal bailout money spent more than $10 million on political lobbying in the first three months of this year,"

"... General Motors ... spent nearly $1 million a month on lobbying, and Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase, which together spent more than $2.5 million in their efforts to sway lawmakers and Obama administration officials ... "


So what are they lobbying for? What is so important that these firms/companies will spend more in a month than the heavy majority of Americans make in a year, or two , or three?

They don't want executive pay caps.
They don't want tighter financial restrictions.
Or - in other words, they want to continue to operate in the way they have in the past, but still want our money.

" ... several company representatives said yesterday that none of the money borrowed from the government has been used to fund lobbying activities ... "

Uh huh - can someone try and prove that to me? How much of the first bailout was burned up before anyone even knew where to write it down in their books?

" ... After Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase, top lobbyists included American Express, Wells Fargo Bank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. "


If they have the money to lobby - why don't they use it to keep themselves alive and quit taking the American Taxpayers money.




The article can be found here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30340700