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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

Special Report
Industry of Influence Nets Almost $13 Billion
Shadowy lobbyists ignore rules and exploit connections

By Alex Knott

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2005 — 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.

Washington's lobbyists reported billing $2.4 billion in 2003, the most 
recent year for which complete data exist. That figure will almost 
certainly go up to more than $3 billion in 2004.

The rest of the article may be found at:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/lobby/report.aspx?aid=675&sid=200