When the government said it would spend $700 billion to rescue the
nation’s financial industry, it seemed to be an ocean of money. But after one of
the biggest lobbying free-for-alls in memory, it suddenly looks like a dwindling
pool.

Many new supplicants are lining up for an infusion of capital as
billions of dollars are channeled to other beneficiaries like the American
International Group, and possibly soon American
Express...

The Treasury Department is under siege by an army of hired guns for
banks, savings and loan associations and insurers — as well as for improbable
candidates like a Hispanic business group representing plumbing and home-heating specialists. That last group wants the Treasury to hire its members as
contractors to take care of houses that the government may end up owning through buying distressed mortgages.