How much is your member of Congress worth to special interests?

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Jack Abramoff, foreground, leaves Federal Court in Washington Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2006. The once-powerful lobbyist pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges of conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud, agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors investigating influence peddling that has threatened powerful members of the U.S. Congress.

Congress remains a bull market for lobbyists and lawmakers
by Charles Pope, The Oregonian
Thursday October 09, 2008, 10:56 AM

WASHINGTON -- How much is your member of Congress worth to special interests?

That question has been tumbling about Capitol Hill for years and now one group has offered an answer - $5 million.

That's the amount of ``special interest money'' spent on each member of the House and Senate, according to an analysis by the Progressive Policy Institute, a research group affiliated with the centrist Democratic Leadership Council.

``Americans want change in Washington and the reasons are clear: lobbyists roughly spend an astounding $5 million per member of Congress each year to sway members toward any number of special interests,'' a PPI memo to ``the next president'' says.

``PACs, not voters, contributed about $4 of every $10 raised by House candidates, and about one-third of funds raised by Senate candidates; and 90 percent of all congressional contributions are over $200 - not exactly the `small donor revolution' we'd been hoping for,'' says the memo, written by Senior Fellow Ed Kilgore.

According to Kilgore, the math isn't complicated but the consequences are. ``When you factor in the estimated $2.8 billion spent on congressional lobbying activities last year alone, it comes to approximately $5 million per member of Congress.''

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http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2008/10/washington_how_much_is.html