Why Do We Continue to Call Bribery an "Effort to Sway Lawmakers?"
Firms Infused With Rescue Cash Find Money to Fund Lobbying GM, Financial Companies Are Among Biggest Spenders By Dan Eggen Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, April 22, 2009 Top recipients of federal bailout money spent more than $10 million on political lobbying in the first three months of this year, including aggressive efforts aimed at blocking executive pay limits and tougher financial regulations, according to newly filed disclosure records. The biggest spenders among major firms in the group included General Motors, which 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 on a wide range of financial issues. In all, major bailout recipients have spent more than $22 million on lobbying in the six months since the government began doling out rescue funds, Senate disclosure records show. The new lobbying totals come at a time of mount…