Quote:
Originally Posted by 392cobra
Lobbyist spending jumps 5 percent last year despite nation's recession woes
By Kevin Bogardus - 02/12/10 01:21 PM ET
Lobbyists enjoyed record revenues while the rest of the country was struggling amid a deep recession, according to a report out Friday.
Last year saw a more than 5 percent increase in lobbying expenditures as compared to 2008, said a new report released Friday by the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign finance watchdog.
More than $3.47 billion was spent on lobbying in 2009, about $170 million more than in 2008, according to the watchdog’s analysis.
Lobbyists have said business for them managed to remain upbeat throughout 2009 despite the poor economy because of the Obama administration’s aggressive legislative agenda.
http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbyi...ures-last-year
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And from 2007 to 2008 the spending increase was just under 16%. In fact, since 1999, with the exception of 2000-2001 when the tech buble burst and spending only went up 6%, all the other years saw an annual increase around 11%. 1998 to 1999 saw no increase at all.
And the number of active registered lobbists hit an all time high of 14826 in 2007. The number of lobbyists in 2009 was 13741. The number has not been below 14,000 since 2005.
What you and your article fails to mention is that the average spending increase was down by about half, and that the number of lobbyists dropped just under 5% from 2008-2009. And from 2007-2008 the number of lobbyists dropped about 2.5%. Every year from 2001 has had an increase until 2007.
Those numbers seem headed in the right direction, but why let facts get in the way of a good Obama-bash, right?
Steve