Blood In The Water: Lobbyists Circling Bailout Bill

Why not? It appears as though many of the financial industry giants the bailout was intended for don’t want it any more.

Lobbyists, who had little influence in the development of the $700 billion economic bailout, are angling to play a greater role as Treasury implements the plan and Congress debates how best to strengthen financial market oversight.
“This is going to be a big trend, in all honesty, for the next three to five years,” said Rich Gold, the head of Holland and Knight’s government relations and regulatory practice.
“This one is very, very big,” said Patrick Oxford, chairman of Bracewell & Giuliani.

Once again, the bailout wasn’t about fixing anything. The bailout was about protecting the status quo from change. The sort of change brought about by free markets when businesses make bad business decisions.