From this graphic that appears in the print edition, you might think this story was in Mother Jones, or The Progressive, or maybe The Nation. Actually, it's from the current (09/17/07) issue of Business Week, Inside the Hidden World Of Earmarks by Eamon Javers. There's also a supplementary interactive table, Lobbying for Dollars.I used "war profiteering" in the title because most of the activity Javers discusses has to do with defense companies, and according to the data provided, defense firms are clearly the largest beneficiaries of "earmarks".
This isn't a report on overall lobbying, but specifically on lobbying for earmarks, which Javers defines as "those specially targeted spending measures that members of Congress slip into legislation to send money to favored companies and organizations."
But the article not only provides an insight into how the border between legitimate lobbying activity and blatant corruption can be awfully hard to perceive in the current atmosphere.
It's also a real reminder that there are "many companies, particularly those in sectors like defense" which "depend heavily on government contracts". These don't operate in some mythical "free market" of perfect competition. They make money off the taxpayers. And they should be subject to far stricter rules and much better scrutiny. One group that does provide some scrutiny of earmarks is Taxpayers for Common Sense, which is referenced in the article.
Tags: earmarks, war profiteering
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