More Congressional Corruption: TARP dollars going to campaign coffers.

Man... this just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Doesn't it do the same for you?

Snatched in its entirety from NW Republican.

Forget AIG, look at TARP money going to campaign coffers

Newsweek has a potential time bomb of a story running today. It shows that many companies who have taken BILLIONS in bail-out money are now turning around and giving some of those bail-out dollars back to politicians as campaign contributions.

If the politicians can retroactively tax AIG people for 100% of their bonuses why can't Congress also pass a law that says ANY COMPANY getting bail-out cash must refrain from ANY political contributions until that money is paid back to the American people.

This is far worse than giving bonuses and buying company jets. This goes to the very underpinnings of American Democracy. Who will stand up against it?

While a few big firms, such as Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase, have curtailed their campaign giving, others are quietly doling out cash to select members of Congress, particularly those who serve on committees that oversee TARP. In recent filings with the Federal Election Commission, the political action committee for Bank of America (which got $15 billion in bailout money) sent out $24,500 in the first two months of 2009, including $1,500 to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and another $15,000 to members of the House and Senate banking panels. Citigroup ($25 billion) dished out $29,620, including $2,500 to House GOP Whip Eric Cantor, who also got $10,000 from UBS which, while not a TARP recipient, got $5 billion in bailout funds as an AIG "counterparty." "This certainly appears to be a case of TARP funds being recycled into campaign contributions," says Brett Kappel, a D.C. lawyer who tracks donations. (A spokesman for Cantor did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for Hoyer said it's his "policy to accept legal contributions.")

The cash flow is already causing angst inside the Beltway. "The last thing I want to do is wake up one morning and see our PAC check being burned on C-Span," said one bank lobbyist, who asked not to be identified because of the issue's sensitivity. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Financial Services chair Rep. Barney Frank both said recently they won't take donations from TARP recipients. But House Democratic fundraisers have quietly passed the word that the party's campaign committee will resume accepting them—but down the road, not right now. Said one fundraiser, who also requested anonymity, "These are treacherous waters."