To judge by the rhetoric coming from Capitol Hill liberals, you would think the recently bailed-out American International Group was some sort of free-market, government-hating, leave-me-alone-to-make-my-profits capitalist cowboy before it came begging this week for a handout from Uncle Sam. The company’s lobbying record and campaign contributions tell a different story.

AIG has built its business in conjunction with big government and, naturally, lobbied for big government programs that make some of its businesses possible. Still, Democrats are using the company’s collapse, and the broader context of the financial crisis, as an indictment of the free market and of Republicans.