Will Obama, McCain, Dodd Return AIG Campaign Contributions?

An ABC News story begins - - -

AIG employees kept doling out donations to politicians, including presidential candidate Barack Obama, after getting bailed out with federal funds last year, raising the question of whether those politicians will now return the money.

AIG executives gave more than $630,000 during the 2008 political cycle even as the company was falling apart.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign finance reports, more than $120,000 of that money was donated after AIG received its first $85 billion in federal bailout funds in September. The company has since received a total of $170 billion in taxpayer cash to prevent its collapse.

Their generosity included more than $23,000 to Obama's campaign.

Both Obama and Republican presidential candidate John McCain raked in much larger sums from AIG earlier in the year. Obama collected a total of $130,000 from AIG in 2008, while McCain accepted a total of $59,499.

The rest of the story’s here.

It’s a reminder of how much of “the outrage” we’re hearing from politicians of both parties is just self-serving blather intended to fool the public. For most Washington politicians, AIG and other large companies are cash cows they milk often.

ABC’s story also reminded me of the myth the “Anything for Obama” MSM often peddled last year about how most of then Sen. Obama’s campaign funds were in the form of small contributions from ordinary citizens inspired by Hope and Change. (See Where's Obama's money coming from? - Apr. 6, 2008)