{"id":328534,"date":"2010-02-16T14:24:48","date_gmt":"2010-02-16T19:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"tag:www.opensecrets.org,2010:\/news\/\/8.1376"},"modified":"2010-02-16T14:33:24","modified_gmt":"2010-02-16T19:33:24","slug":"lobbyists-earn-1-3-million-per-hour-as-lawmakers-log-long-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/328534","title":{"rendered":"Lobbyists Earn $1.3 Million Per Hour As Lawmakers Log Long Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"moneystack.jpg\"As the Center for Responsive Politics<\/a> reported last week, federal lobbying soared<\/a> to record levels last year, as lawmakers clocked long hours and worked at a pace to be, in the opinion of one congressional scholar, the most productive<\/a> Congress in decades. <\/p>\n

This translates to about $1.3 million spent on lobbying for every hour that Congress was in session in 2009, the Center for Responsive Politics has found.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers in both chambers met for a total of 2,668 hours, according congressional records<\/a>. The U.S. Senate was open for business on 191 days, while the U.S. House convened on 159 days.<\/p>\n

Federal lobbying records show<\/a> clients spent $3.47 billion on lobbying Congress, the White House and other federal agencies<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Some clients — such as the big-spending U.S. Chamber of Commerce<\/a> — also include dollars spent on grassroots lobbying efforts, and not just sums spent at the federal level. And lobbying expenditures are not only made when Congress is officially in session. <\/p>\n

Still, through this prism, we see the power of various special interests in a different light. <\/p>\n

Health-related lobbyists<\/a> and lobbyists for business interests<\/a> like the Chamber, for instance, earned more than $200,000 per hour that Congress was in session. Lobbyists for unions<\/a>, meanwhile, took in $16,000 per hour that Congress was in session.<\/p>\n

Below is a chart with this per-hour analysis for all 13 sectors tracked by CRP, based on data made available by the Senate Office of Public Records.<\/p>\n