Senators to AIG: Stop Lobbying!

Two senators have asked AIG to stop lobbying after we and the Wall Street Journal reported ($) that the company, which has taken $123 billion in public money in the past month, was still paying lobbyists.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, and Sen. Mel Martinez, a Republican, wrote a letter to AIG to ask them to immediately stop lobbying against a new law that would increase regulation on the mortgage industry.

“We are troubled that AIG is fighting against more robust oversight and regulation, given the company’s role in the credit crisis and financial market instability,” the senators wrote, according to the Journal.

The letter continues: “We find it unconscionable that AIG would take advantage of these taxpayer loans while paying lobbyists to rollback taxpayer protections against misrepresentations, deception, and fraud in mortgage lending.”

AIG spent $11 million on lobbying in 2007 and $6.7 million so far this year. Lobbying giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, taken over by the government in September, paid a little more than that combined. Unlike AIG, Freddie and Fannie’s lobbying operations were shut down as soon as the government takeover took effect.

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