What can be done about them? I was having a discussion with a friend the other day, and he told me that there are 50,000 lobbyists in Washington. That number sounded way to high for me to believe. There are only around 500 or so members of congress, a hundred in the Senate and I believe around 400 in the House. So if that was accurate it would mean that there are around 100 lobbysits for every member of congress.
I found an article from 2005 that states there were 34,750 registered lobbyists in Washington then. The amount of lobbyists had doubled from 2000-2005. So if the growth in the lobby industry continued over the last three years, 50,000 could be an accurate number.
I understand companies wanting to have a presence in Washington to prevent them from getting screwed by legislation that would be harmful to their industry, but they are taking it a step beyond that. They now push for legislation that is directly beneficial to their specific company. The reason the lobby industry has grown so much is because it works. Companies are spending more and more money hiring lobby firms because they add revenue directly to the bottom line.
To steal a line from Cramer "we a have a government of, by, and for the corporation".
The Road to Riches Is Called K Street
