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Congress fact of the day
...in less than a year, the lobbying salary commanded by a top Democratic staffer for a middle-rank member of the House has more than doubled, from $180,000 to $400,000.
That is from The New York Times, December 2, Thomas Edsall, p.A27.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on December 4, 2006 at 07:01 AM in Political Science | Permalink
Comments
Markets in everything.
Posted by: A Tykhyy at Dec 4, 2006 8:28:04 AM
The Boston Globe says federal lobbying on medical issues exceeded $311million in 2003 alone...and quotes estimates that the Medicare benefit would produce additional profits for drug companies of over a hundred billion in 8 years. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/10/05/medicare_bill_a_study_in_dc_spoils_system/?page=2
If you divide the 535 members of the House and Senate into the $311 million you get almost $600,000 a piece. What a fever it must have been to find new ways to spend it on them! But if you divide $311 million into a hundred billion, you get something like $300 to the bottom line for each dollar spent lobbying!
So Pelosi may want to get this process in motion again... for very good reasons...or for quite political ones... but the hiring of Congressional aids is sure to keep getting more and more competitive.
Posted by: Dave Meleney at Dec 4, 2006 10:07:04 AM
I hope you meant to say EX-staffer.
Posted by: joan at Dec 4, 2006 12:16:43 PM
I blame the Republicans.
First person to say it...do I win a prize?
Posted by: empedocles at Dec 4, 2006 4:18:49 PM
Is this a consequence of campaign finance reform? It's harder to buy access directly through campaign contributions, raising the price for the middlemen. Just speculation.
Posted by: AC at Dec 8, 2006 1:46:28 AM
Weight loss is easier than you think!
Posted by: adipex at Jan 28, 2009 8:50:19 PM
