AIG's Money Lined Pockets in Washington

Chris Dodd has been a major AIG critic of late, but the Senate Banking chairman also has the uncomfortable distinction of being the politician to benefit the most from the insurer’s generosity, the Wall Street Journal reports. AIG employees have donated $280,000 to Dodd over the years, including $104,000 during his presidential run. And he’s by no means alone. Barack Obama pulled in another $104,000 during his own '08 campaign.

On the Republican side, George W. Bush took the cake with $200,000 in donations, ahead of John McCain's $99,000. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. AIG, which promised to stop lobbying when it got its first bailout, spent $72.6 million doing just that since 1998, and has donated $9.3 million to various campaigns since 1989. (More AIG stories.)