Barack Obama swept into the White House on the back of a promise to rein in the pervasive influence of lobbyists in government.
But an analysis of lobbying records released yesterday shows that corporations spent more money than ever lobbying members of Congress in 2009, even amid the worst recession in decades.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, corporations and other interest groups spent a total of $3.47bn (€2.55bn, £2.21bn) on federal lobbyists last year, a 5 per cent increase from 2008, which broke all previous records.
The lobbying frenzy peaked in the fourth quarter of 2009, which hit a record of $955m spent, just as negotiations over the now stalled healthcare reform supported by the Obama administration were ramped up on Capitol Hill.
“Lobbying appears recession-proof,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center. “Even when companies are scaling back other operations, many view lobbying as a critical tool in protecting their future interests.”
The pharmaceutical and health products industry broke all records by spending $267m last year, in what the Center’s analysts said was the “greatest amount ever spent on lobbying efforts by a single industry for one year”.
Not all of those funds were spent rallying against healthcare, however. The pharmaceutical industry’s main lobby group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) spent $26m lobbying in favour of healthcare reform after it negotiated an $80bn deal with the Senate and White House last summer that critics said was a gift to the industry.
The chief negotiator of that deal, former congressman Billy Tauzin, yesterday announced his resignation as president of the trade group. Mr Tauzin, who has run the association since 2005, said he would formally step down in June.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/11f99a48-183c-11df-9256-00144feab49a.html
