Bankruptcy

Industries Lobbying for Bailout Aid

By J. Michael McBride

Think about the irony of that headline. Companies are paying lobbiests to assure that they get bailout money.

Recently a number of economic sectors have begun lobbying for a slice of the largest government bailout in history. Industries hit hard by the financial crisis (such as insurers, automakers, and American subsidiaries of foreign banks) have all begun lobbying the Treasury Department for financial support. “These groups argue that the credit squeeze is so severe and the risks to the economy so dire that their industries need financial support as well.” So far the Treasury Department has not given any official responses to these requests, although sources claim that Treasury Secretary Paulson has met with various groups petitioning for assistance. Currently the lobbyist group, The Financial Services Roundtable, has written officials at the Treasury Department requesting that the $250 billion bailout to banks be expanded to include insurers, auto companies, securities dealers, and U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies.

Here is a link to one article on this topic:
http://www.star-telegram.com/238/story/997921.html

Chris

Full post as published by Texas Lawyer Blog on October 27, 2008 (boomark / email).