State Lobbyists Near the $1 Billion Mark

VERY interesting read at Hired Guns - The Center for Public Integrity A quick excerpt:

Vested interests are working harder than ever to achieve their goals in state capitols and state agencies across the country. Nearly 47,000 such interests—companies, advocacy groups, labor unions, professional organizations and even government agencies—hired more than 38,000 individual lobbyists. This averages out to five lobbyists and almost $130,000 in expenditures per state legislator.

With this kind of money being spent it's hard to fathom that my legistlators really represent my community. We elect them, but six figure or higher donations will inevitably redirect the loyalties of most politicians. Like I heard once years ago in the midst of banking deregulation, if a judge is trying your case and you hand him $130,000 it's a bribe and you, or even both of you, will likely go to jail. If you hand it to a politician it's a campaign contribution. In traveling and living overseas I've been asked so many times if the US government is corrupt like that in whatever country I was in at the time. My answer was usually something like, "Yes, but it's gotten more sophisticated and often it's just plain legal."