Thanks due to Open Secrets for this useful little tidbit. Useful? Maybe that's not the right word. FUCKING OUTRAGEOUS, now that might be more appropriate.

How would you like to see a 258,449% return on investment in the most bizarre, under-performing, disgustingly perverted market in human history? I know I would probably appreciate performance like that.

As most of you know if you come here often, I pride myself on keeping on top of things as they unravel (compared to some of my financial blogging cohorts who prefer the slow and steady analysis method) so I apologize that I didn't catch this in February when it was fresh but just in case you didn't see it, you might want to know just how badly the taxpayer got screwed on this deal. More importantly, it helps to know who made off with the loot and to what extent. Hopefully this clears everything up for you.

OS:

The companies that have been awarded taxpayers' money from Congress's bailout bill spent $77 million on lobbying and $37 million on federal campaign contributions, Center finds. The return on investment: 258,449 percent.


WASHINGTON--(This release has been corrected to reflect that Bank of America has received $45 billion, not $55 billion, from the TARP program. The $45 billion includes $10 billion that Merrill Lynch received before being acquired by Bank of America. An earlier version of this release incorrectly added Merrill Lynch's $10 billion to Bank of America's $45 billion. Adjustments to the figures in the original release are in bold below. In addition, the total number of TARP recipients that lobbied in 2008 is 26, rather than 25 as originally stated.) The struggling companies whose freewheeling business practices have contributed to the country's economic woes are getting a lucrative return on at least one of their investments. Beneficiaries of the $700 billion bailout package in the finance and automotive industries have spent a total of $114.2 million on lobbying in the past year and contributions toward the 2008 election, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has found. The companies' political activities have, in part, yielded them $295.2 billion from the federal government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), an extraordinary return of 258,449 percent.

"Even in the best economic times, you won't find an investment with a greater payoff than what these companies have been getting," said Sheila Krumholz, the Center's executive director. "Some of the companies and industries that have received payments may now consider their contributions and lobbying to be the smartest investments they've made in years."

While the Treasury Department, not Congress, doles out TARP funds to specific institutions, congressional lawmakers had to authorize that money in the first place, and lawmakers will determine in the future whether to release more funds to prop up the U.S. economy. During the bill-writing process, members of Congress were able to specify to some extent where the money should go, and they have lobbied regulators to urge them to inject funds into specific banks and financial institutions, including those in lawmakers' own districts.

"Taxpayers hope their money is being allocated entirely on the merits, but with Congress controlling how much money the Treasury gets to hand out, it will be impossible to completely exclude politics from this process," Krumholz said.

Some of the top recipients of contributions from companies receiving TARP money are the same members of Congress who chair committees charged with regulating the financial sector and overseeing the effectiveness of this unprecedented government program. They include Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs (he received $854,200 from the companies in the 2008 election cycle, including money to his presidential campaign) and Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, chair of the Senate Finance Committee (he received $279,000). In total, members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Senate Finance Committee and House Financial Services Committee received $5.2 million from TARP recipients in the 2007-2008 election cycle. President Obama collected at least $4.3 million from employees at these companies for his presidential campaign.

The same Max Baucus who said "Its like having a second United States government dedicated solely to saving the financial system and that is truly surreal." Interesting.

To put this in perspective:

Bank of America gave $5,752,630 in campaign contributions for 07 - 08, spent $8,790,000 on lobbying efforts (2008) and received $45,000,000,000 in TARP. That's a 309335% ROI!

Citigroup Inc. gave $5,752,630 in campaign contributions for 07 - 08, spent $7,660,000 on lobbying efforts (2008) and received $50,000,000,000 in TARP. Which means a 401194% ROI. You can't beat that!!

This makes me sick. I'm done.