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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

GM rehires lobbyists -- and taxpayers foot the bill

General Motors laid off its outside lobbyists when it was under bankruptcy over the summer. Today, my column reports, although it is still under government ownership, the failed carmaker retains four K Street firms:
GM, of course, is still owned mostly by the federal government and is still losing money -- $1.2 billion in the third quarter. That means the company's expenses are the taxpayer's expenses. That means you are paying these lobbying fees. Put another way, the Obama administration, through GM, is transferring wealth from average Americans to millionaire former public officials.
The home values of 13 of GM's 18 lobbyists can be found in public records. The mean assessed value of those homes was $1.13 million. Three of GM's lobbyists have homes valued at more than $1.5 million, including one whose home is worth $2.97 million. Your taxes are paying to shine the chandeliers in these posh palaces.

1 comment:

JoSH said...

"The home values of 13 of GM's 18 lobbyists can be found in public records. The mean assessed value of those homes was $1.13 million. Three of GM's lobbyists have homes valued at more than $1.5 million, including one whose home is worth $2.97 million. Your taxes are paying to shine the chandeliers in these posh palaces."

So what? I have a home worth $600,000 and it isn't *anywhere near* being a mansion. That's the price one pays for living one mile from Boston. A $5M house, OK, but as it stands, I see this as a pretty weak argument.