General Motors is using taxpayer money to get more taxpayer money, according to a Wednesday editorial in The Examiner. In an effort to receive government subsidies, tax breaks and other financial favors the troubled car manufacturer, which has not turned a profit since 2005 and on a monthly basis actually loses $400 million, has reportedly rehired two of the high-priced lobbying firms it fired last summer. K Street outfits Duberstein Group and Greenberg Traurig were quietly brought back on in recent months, and the firms Washington Tax Group and GrayLoeffler were added to GM payrolls.
Perhaps now the whereabouts of that $52 million in bailout money to GM will be less of a mystery to taxpayers. According to The Examiner editorial, “Duberstein Group’s average quarterly fee last quarter was $94,000, while Greenberg Traurig’s was $40,000 and GrayLoeffler’s was $28,000. In the third quarter, GM paid the Washington Tax Group $25,000.”
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News of the spending spree came as the government moved forward Wednesday with a second loan to GM lender GMAC Financial Services. This advance will reportedly be at least $3 billion. GMAC got $12.5 billion last year and is 35 percent government-owned.
