From the L.A. Times
Lobbying Tab Is $1.1 Billion for Half a Year
Wed Dec 29, 7:55 AM ETBy Peter Wallsten Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — As President Bush (news - web sites) campaigned for reelection
pledging to protect doctors and insurance companies from patient lawsuits while
easing the tax burden on businesses, industry groups spent record amounts of
money lobbying to influence the White House, Congress and their constituents.
Special interests spent $1.1 billion during the first half of 2004 on lobbyists
and advertising campaigns, according to public records that interest groups
are required to file with the Senate.
Topping the list of spenders were the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (news - web sites)
and the American Medical Assn., which spent a combined $39 million during the
six-month period to appeal for medical liability limits, according to politicalmoneyline.com.
The independent group tracks spending on political campaigns and lobbying.
Reports tallying lobbyist expenditures for the rest of the year are due in February
— and industry insiders expect the yearly total to exceed last year's
record of roughly $2 billion.
"A lot of business groups have been waiting for years, if not decades,
for all the political stars to be aligned so they could get legislation passed
on issues like medical malpractice," said Stephen Moore, who heads the
Club for Growth, a leading business advocacy group.
"The overall issue of lawsuit abuses and bringing a stop to them will mean
that the lobbying frenzy will be even more intense in 2005," Moore added.
So far in 2004, businesses and interest groups are paying their lobbyists at
a record pace. This was the first year in which spending during the first six
months topped $1 billion; businesses and interest groups spent about $963 million
during the same period in 2003.
And the new figures demonstrate how the cash flow to lobbying firms on Washington's
K Street is accelerating — up from an average of $128 million a month
during the first half of 2000, the last year of the Clinton administration,
to the 2004 monthly average of $176 million.
"Businesses and other interests sense an opportunity, and they are going
to be spending a tremendous amount of money to ensure that they get their way,"
said Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics,
a nonpartisan group that monitors lobbying practices. "No one should doubt
that they're spending this money for their own special interests and not the
public interest."
Other big spenders on lobbying during the first half of 2004 included General
Electric Co., which spent $8.44 million on various issues, such as Iraq (news
- web sites) contracts and broadcast policies, and the Pharmaceutical Research
and Manufacturers of America, which spent about $8 million on legislation affecting
Medicare, drug issues and other healthcare matters.
The two major mortgage lenders, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the National
Assn. of Realtors also spent millions of dollars.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, by far the top spender, spent about $30 million,
according to the PoliticalMoneyLine website.
A spokeswoman said the total included money spent on lobbyists interacting with
the administration and Congress in addition to election-related advertising
directed at the public. She referred questions on specifics to Chamber officials,
who did not return telephone calls.
The Chamber of Commerce, which historically refrains from presidential politics,
spent millions this year on a group called the November Fund, which was formed
to attack Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. John Edwards (news - web
sites) of North Carolina for his work as a trial lawyer. Chamber executives
said during the campaign that lawsuit liability was a key issue for the group.
A spokeswoman for the AMA declined to offer details about how the group spent
its money but said that medical liability issues and Medicare reimbursements
to doctors were key issues.
Interest groups are not required to say exactly how they spend the money. Instead,
organizations and lobbying firms file reports listing the legislation they tried
to influence and the total amount spent.
Noble, of the Center for Responsive Politics, said lobbyists often spend money
on trips for members of Congress and other government officials to such places
as hunting lodges and golf resorts.
"They do it legally, by calling it an educational trip," he
said.
Firms also look for connections to the party in control.
Among the firms and lobbyists that it hired, the AMA reported paying $60,000
to David Sibley, a former Republican Texas state senator who represented the
Waco area before retiring from the Legislature to devote himself to lobbying.
The president's ranch in Crawford is outside Waco. Sibley said he was hired
by the AMA to press its case with the administration.
"We're getting ready to crank up on tort reform," he said.
But asked to elaborate, Sibley declined, saying: "I see no upside to me
talking about what I do for these guys."
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