According to a University of Michigan study, U.S. banks that spent more money on political lobbying were more likely to receive bailout funds. The study found that political connections motivated bailout allocations through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Capital Purchase Program.
The study examined indicators of political ties between banks and the federal government. Banks with an executive who sat on the Federal Reserve Bank were 31 percent more likely to get bailout funds. Banks with ties to a finance committee member were 26 percent more likely to receive capital purchase funds. Banks headquartered in the district of a member of the House of Representatives were also preferred.
In 2008, the same year that TARP was initiated, banks contributed over $475 million to Congressional candidates. With support to the tune of half-a-billion dollars in one a year alone, politicians of both capitalist parties are politically beholden to the banks and not to the workers they claim to represent.
