Who Got The $50 Million From GM Lobbiests? DEMOCRATS ! SUPRISE!

As Congress mulls over a bailout for U.S. automakers, some may be thinking about more than jobs and the economy.

The auto industry spent nearly $50 million lobbying Congress in the first nine months of this year.

And people tied to the auto industry gave another $15 million in campaign contributions, CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports.

It's not surprising that a lot of that money went to members of Congress from Michigan, where the auto industry is the biggest employer and politicians are passionate advocates for their constituents.

Take Sen. Carl Levin, who received $438,304 from the automotive industry. And in the House, Rep. Joe Knollenberg received $879,327. Rep. John Dingell got nearly a million from the industry. All have enjoyed generous support from the auto industry over their careers, with GM and Ford as their two top contributors. All support a bailout.

But nobody's been a bigger advocate for Motor City interests than Dingell. And for him, the stakes aren't just political, they're personal.

"There's an actual conflict," said Ryan Alexander of the nonprofit group Taxpayers for Common Sense. "His personal financial health, you know, the wealth of his family is tied up in the car industry."

Dingell's wife Debbie once worked as a lobbyist for GM.

When she married the congressman, she became a senior GM executive at an undisclosed salary. And we found the couple has extensive GM assets.

Dingell's current financial disclosure filed in May lists GM stock worth up to $350,000, options worth up to $1 million more, and a GM pension fund. In 2000, among the Dingells' GM assets were stock options worth up to $5 million.

And in 1998, the congressman reported selling GM stock options worth up to $1 million dollars.

Dingell wouldn't agree to an interview.

Taxpayer watchdog Alexander says the Dingell's personal ties to GM are something the public should know about when the congressman casts his votes.

"They stand to benefit if the company doesn't go under, if the company prospers," she said. "And they stand to lose a lot if the company goes bankrupt."

Nobody is placing bets on whether Congress will end up giving the car companies a bailout. But if investments in Washington politicians count as leverage, then the auto industry has plenty of clout.

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So whats the question? I get the drift of the article but the lobbyist would have bribed (thats just what I call it) some one from any party. These just happen to be Dems. Check out Pharma. bribes or bribes paid by the Oil companies. It really does not matter what party they are they all have their hands out. The system is broken. The people in power (of any party) are living rather comfortable and will not change the ways they operate. How many of these people actually take there garbage out. Wash there own cars. Mow their lawn. Most live so far from what I know as reality that I consider them Americas royalty.

Thin slices of thought cut quickest.

Guess we can all thank God that Obama will get rid of all the bloodsucking lobbyists!!! We don't need them, we don't want them, they contribute nothing to the economy, AND "We're mad as hell and we're not to take it anymore!!!

We worry so much about the auto industry...at least they contribute something to the economy.....Wall Street doesn't. I wrote my Congressman today urging he support the LOAN for the auto industry, and also urging that they take the money out of the Wall Street bailout money, since they still are planning to reward their execs with bonuses for a "job poorly done." I never received a bonus for a job I didn't do. In fact, in all fairness, rather than receive bonuses this year, they should pay back to the taxpayers, bonuses they received in the past. And if you think the public is sick of this mess, just wait...Bush/Cheney and friends have already started plans for the confiscation of arms, starting first with handguns. Plans are in the woks folks, and there is nothing you can do about it. I don't know if Obama will be able to stop it. It all depends how badly the ultra rich want to control us. It WILL be an uphill battle for Obama, but WE CAN DO IT!!!!

Well I agree with you overall but no one will control me in these matters. As a citizen I own a gun and if they start knocking on doors there are ways around that. I do not see it coming to that but I fear a world economic collapse a lot more than that. Also Obama can not stop any such thing. If you look at it the pres has very little acual power in most matters other than trying to delegate his thoughts and ideas (good or bad). It is what congress and senate does or does not do that will (or not) make a diff on any matter. I believe it is already bought and paid for.....whatever that may be.

Thin slices of thought cut quickest.

Marine Recon Dad! I salute you as the great patriot and American you are.

The Marines have a tradition of this as evidenced in the very inspiring example of Marine Core Major General Smedley Darlington Butler.

In the early nineteen thirties Major General Butler saved the F.D.R. Administration single handedly from a direct coup attempt against the White House led by the powerful Morgan Banking interests of the day to overthrow Democratic Government and the Constitution and set up a Fascist Government in America.

Like now the Bankers then had manipulated an artificial World Wide financial crisis to help establish Facism in Europe in Hitler's Germany and Mousellini's Italy. They wanted to establish it here to in the United States of America.

These powerful banking interests from the last century are still the same powerful banking interests that dominate this century's banking industry. In fact it is their grand children who run these banking interests today.

Prescott Bush, J. D. Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan, Alfred DuPont, Andrew Mellon, and Averell Harriman seeking to use the wealth and influence they had amassed through a spidery network of hundreds of inter related businesses that they controlled through the financial investments they had made in them through their banking and investment firms to acquire them held a strangle hold on the American economy that they used in an all out effort to at first try to control and then eliminate Roosevelt who was determined to break their grip on the paralyzed nation.

Their Bank's Chase, Citi Group, Morgan and Bank of America remain today as powerful as they were then, with an even more impressive array of inter connected companies that control our currently frozen economy now, just like it was frozen then.

Sadly Barack Obama is no FDR but even in FDR's day the most serious threat to the Democracy of the United States it's Constitution and Soveriegnty was thwarted by one good Marine.

Not with a gun. But with words. Words just like yours Marine Recon Dad.

Then just like now, the press and media was controlled through ownership or financial influence of the bankers and Major General Butler had to fight tooth and nail to get his words out there and story across.

He did though, in the end despite the Main Stream Medias best effort through small local publications and word of mouth the truth of Major General Butler's heroic one man struggle to save the United States President, Constitution and Democracy was known by all.

Take the time to read about this fascinating Marine and his struggle so similiar to ours.

http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2006/3332morgan_coup_plot.html

Americans should understand that there has long been an effort on the part of the greedy and powerful to bury and obscure history and to try to make sure history's stories are not told.

Why? Two reasons, one...is history always repeats itself, two, history often repeats itself by the next descending generations of the very same people who plot to tyrannize.

It is the children's, children of the people in Major General Butlers story that are tyranizing us today, utilizing the same style of plan with the same goal their grandfathers attempting to tyrannize us with almost a century ago.

We don't need to be afraid of Obama taking our guns. Not one shot had to be fired to put down the last determined attempt by these men to overthrow our government and establish a one world order through their monopoly on banking, natuaral resourses and industry.

All it took was Americans hearing and learning of their plot.

People armed with facts even spread from person to person by mouth if need be simply defeat these men each and every time. Once their plans are exposed they simply no longer have any value because the ellement of mass deception needed to make them work has already been destroyed by exposing everyone to the truth.

It's called freedom of speech and no matter what our politicans think now or thought then, our Bill of Rights is inalienable. No amount of illegal congressional legislation like the Patriot Act or Homeland Security Act or Foreign Intelligence Services Act can actually take away our inalienable rights. They are inalienable because attempts to legislate them away are illegal. The Constitution does not give Congress the power to vote away our inalienable Rights described in the Bill of Rights. That is why many of our founding fathers would not sign the Constitution until the Bill of Rights was drawn up to go along with it. Our corrupt legislators and executives can legislate any piece of meaningless illegal legislation that they want that they imagine takes away our rights. Our inalienable rights can only be taken away though when we imagine they have been because we imagine they have the authority to legislate them away.

THEY DO NOT. THEY ARE INALIENABLE RIGHTS.

I will not give up mine. Not by entreaty, not by threat, not for anything.

Do not be afraid Americans. Learn the truth about who corrupted your government a hundred years ago only to be thwarted by one good Marine.

Washington serves us. Our goverment's politicians and officials serve us. They want to imagine and get us to imagine we serve them. The Constitution says they serve us. The Bill of Rights is inalienable. Stop believing their deception. Expose it and they crawl away for another generation to lick their wounds until they can try to sweep it all under the carpet again and try again. No amount of money saves them from your right to bear arms or discharge one in the direction of a traitor or tyrant trying to committ acts of treason. They know this.

It takes one good Marine to spread the truth.

80 years ago it was Major General Smedley Darlington Butler.

Marine Recon Dad...I salute you!

 

I don't think the bailout of the auot makers or the banks is the answer.  These people mismanaged their businesses to begin with.  Why should they get bailed out for doing a horrible job?  Wouldn't it be better to give each taxpaying family (who is also struggling to keep afloat like the big 3 and the banks) $250,000?  That way they could pay down their mortgages which would help the banks and the housing market.  They could pay down their credit cards. They could buy new cars which would help the auto makers. And they could start spending which would help the overall economy.  Too bad the voters didn't have a voice in the bailout process.  I bet they would've rather seen this happen. 

There's no eraser on the tip of your tongue.

That wouldn't work, the executives and the politicians wouldn't be able to line their pockets with that type of "bailout". My favorite quote, was the President fo Ford who said" We are goig to start to build for demand!" The joke is There is NO DEMAND! That's why they are in this mess!

GOD FAMILY SELF COUNTRY In that order!

That wouldn't work because you have to remember, a lot of these people were way over their heads when they made these purchases to begin with. The American consumer, at times, is not the brightest bulb in the pack.

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