By Alex Knott, The Center for Public Integrity
Special interests and the lobbyists they employ have reported spending, since 1998, a total of almost $13 billion to influence Congress, the White House and more than 200 federal agencies. They've hired a couple thousand former government officials to influence federal policy on everything from abortion and adoption to taxation and welfare. And they've filed--most of the time--thousands of pages of disclosure forms with the Senate Office of Public Records and the House Clerk's Office.
Special interests routinely spend far more on lobbying each election cycle than they do contributing to politicians and political parties. In the 2002 election cycle, the most recent for which complete data exists, the Federal Election Commission reported that $1.6 billion was raised. In that same time period, lobbyists received in payment $4 billion to press their case before the government. In 2000, the last presidential election for which complete data exist, those numbers were $2.3 billion for elections compared to $3.5 billion for lobbying.
Yet the resources devoted to tracking Washington's political mercenaries and the billions they are paid to influence the decisions of members of Congress and executive branch officials is minimal…
Because of their ability to influence lawmakers and legislation, lobbyists have been dubbed "the Fourth Branch" of government. But while they wield enormous influence in the capital, lobbyists receive little attention from the press and far less public scrutiny…
Yet many lobbyists fail to file necessary disclosure forms. Others file their disclosures well beyond the deadlines established by law…
In 1994, the General Accounting Office (now called the Government Accountability Office) estimated that one in four lobbyists don't bother to register. Following passage of the Lobbying Disclosure Act, lobbyist registrations increased significantly from the prior year--in part because of the law's broader requirements for who must file--but there are still those who do not bother to file…
"The real problem here is one of appearance--the appearance of a revolving door between government service and private-sector enrichment," Sen. Robert Dole remarked when the Senate debated the Lobby Disclosure Act in 1995. Dole referred to one type of federal official: those who worked for the U.S. Trade Representative's office, which negotiates trade agreements with foreign governments…
After graciously accepting his defeat in the 1996 presidential election, Dole bowed out of politics and went on to a lucrative career working for
Alex Knott is political editor at the Center for Public Integrity.
