Some Bailed-Out Businesses Scale Back On Lobbying...Slightly

Some firms on the receiving end of the government's $700 billion bailout managed to scale back on lobbying ever so slightly in the third quarter, reports the Associated Press.

Bank of America, which was handed $45 billion in government aid, spent $930,000 lobbying from July to September. That number was up from $800,000 during the previous quarter, but below $1 million spent during the same quarter last year.

Citigroup, also the recipient of $45 billion taxpayer dollars, cut its lobbying expenses to $1.3 billion, down from $1.7 billion the quarter before.

LobbyBlog rounded up some highlights from the newly-released third-quarter lobbying numbers earlier on Wednesday.

These trimmed expenditures come at a time of particular lobbying excess for Wall Street as it tries to ward off more financial oversight from the House Financial Services Committee. Last week the committee voted to regulate the derivatives market for the first time and is preparing to take up the issue of the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency soon.

Bailed-out General Motors also cut its lobbying efforts after its recent bankruptcy reorganization, reports Bloomberg.

The automaker reported spending $1.36 million last quarter. Before its reorganization, the company spent $2.8 million lobbying between January and March and $2.76 million between April and June. Their total lobbying expenses for the year so far are $6.92 million, down from the $9.72 million spent at this time last year.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce topped the list of this year's third-quarter lobbying groups, shelling out $34.7 million lobbying on a variety of causes, not the least of which being financial reform.