British Bailout of Taxpayer Money Funds Lobbyists in America

[Pendragon]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jan/27/royal-bank-scotland-washington-lobbyists

The Royal Bank of Scotland (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/royalbankofscotlandgroup) has spent more than $4m (£2.5m) of British taxpayers' money on lobbyists in Washington since it was bailed out by the government, documents disclose.
Both in-house and commercial lobbyists have been paid to influence American senators and congressmen reforming US finance law since the bank's collapse and government bailout in October 2008.
The money has been handed over despite calls from ministers for RBS and other banks that have received taxpayers' handouts to refrain from hiring public affairs firms.
It comes amid criticism (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jan/27/anger-grows-rbs-chiefs-bonus) of the decision to give the bank's chief executive, Stephen Hester, almost £1m in a bonus this year.
According to the documents, the bank spent $4.13m from October 2008 to December 2011 on lobbyists as it tried to influence three different areas of legislation.


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This is OUTRAGEOUS.

[Mister D]

They are all tied closely together. It's an outrage if not a surprise.

[Conley]

They are all tied closely together. It's an outrage if not a surprise.

Agreed. Not surprising at all, and banks don't stop at national borders.

[Mister D]

Agreed. Not surprising at all, and banks don't stop at national borders.

Kinda scary, actually. While I'll admit that there have been certain material advantages to a globalized economy it comes at a heavy price. Granted, the beginnings of a global market go back to the Spanish discovery of the Americas but while the current process of globalization is only a matter of degree it's still a drastic change.

[MMC]

Guess that won't be helping with the Brits double dip recession. Hopefully we wont be stupid and bail them out.

[Mister D]

Guess that won't be helping with the Brits double dip recession. Hopefully we wont be stupid and bail them out.

I'll bet there is a powerful element in this country that wants to.

[MMC]

I'll bet there is a powerful element in this country that wants to.

Yeah unfortunately that is true.....all one needs do is look and see when half the country is so concerned that some British Prince is marrying some chick and what fricken dress she is going to wear. :rollseyes:

[Conley]

I dunno, the fact that the laws in this country are worth them lobbying with that much firepower makes me think something bad is going on that, through whatever shady deals, may end up with our tax dollars involved. The Fed already makes capital infusions overseas, right? All these guys are more loyal to their own companies (and their own wallets) than they are to any country, so...

[Mister D]

Exactly. Their loyalty is to the market.