Unapologetic CEOs: What Did the Banks Do With Your Cash?

The CEOs of eight banks that received $125 billion in taxpayer money testify before Congress about how they spent the cash.

(AP/ABC News)

Banks Spend on Lobbying and Campaign Contributions

The Center for Responsive Politics also found that the companies receiving TARP funds had spent a total of $114 million last year in an effort to curry federal favor. The government watchdog group's report showed these companies spent $77 million on lobbying and $37 million on federal campaign contributions and later received $295 billion from the TARP.

"Even in the best economic times, you won't find an investment with a greater payoff than what these companies have been getting," said Sheila Krumholz, executive director at the center.

According to the report, JP MorganChase spent about $10.1 million combined on lobbying and campaign contributions, Citigroup approximately $12.4 million, and Bank of America about $14.5 million, including data for Merrill Lynch, which it acquired last year.

New Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner recently said that in the future, companies that receive TARP funds won't be allowed to lobby the government.

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But Geithner has also come in for criticism as he seeks to revive the embattled program launched under his predecessor Henry Paulson.

Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., questioned whether the former chairman of the Federal Reserve in New York can improve the program because he "had a seat at the table when all this original TARP was designed."

"The American people are screaming because they think that the TARP money was designed for one reason -- to relieve the credit crunch -- and it was being used to take care completely of friends and others on Wall Street," Bunning said last week at a Senate Banking Committee hearing.

Geithner's chief of staff, Mark Patterson, comes to the Treasury Department after years as a lobbyist for Goldman Sachs.

Executives Called Before Congress

When the executives come to Congress, they will be the latest in a long line of industry leaders called to Capitol Hill in times of trouble.

In an infamous 1994 hearing, tobacco executives testified that nicotine was not addictive.

Last spring, oil executives were grilled for answers on how their companies were raking in record-high profits while consumers paid record-high prices at the pump.

In November, auto executives came under fire for requesting billons of government aid even as they flew to Washington in private jets.