InDepthNH.org (https://indepthnh.org/tag/lobbying/)
The student loan industry is a major player in money in politics, but was not as active in 2016 as it has been in the past. For the 2016 election cycle, student loan companies gave just over $982,000 in contributions to federal candidates, parties and outside groups. The industry reported more than $1 million in contributions for both the 2014 and 2012 cycles.
267 former aides who worked for four congressional committees pivotal in approving new healthcare legislation are registered lobbyists for clients from the health sector or health insurance industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics’ analysis of Senate lobbying data.
The makers of TurboTax and other online systems spent millions lobbying last year, much of it directed toward a bill that would permanently bar the government from offering taxpayers prefilled filings.
A former national security adviser was paid more than $500,000 last fall by a group linked with the Turkish government to discredit exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen, an enemy of the Turkish president.
U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vermont: ‘I mean how in the world can one explain that the government actually passed a law saying that you can’t negotiate (drug) prices? Well, campaign contributions and lobbying obviously had a big part in making that upside down outcome occur.’
Since 2010, the three largest private prison companies have collectively spent nearly $9.7 million lobbying Congress and other federal agencies, such as the Justice Department and the United States Marshals Service.
U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte was one of the top recipients of donations from the trucking industry at $101,651 from Jan.1, 2009 to October of 2015, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The top 10 lobbying spenders in the third quarter of 2015 reported paying lobbyists about $23 million less than the second quarter’s top 10 spenders did, the latest records show. In the second quarter, the top 10 spenders reported nearly $89 million in outlays, compared to almost $66 million between July 1 and Sept. 30 — a drop of about 25 percent.
Regulators parsing Anheuser-Busch InBev’s planned acquisition of SABMiller are dealing with two companies that have for years spent millions fighting battles in Washington.
The agreement, announced last week, would create a mega-brewer with sales more than three times as large as Heineken’s, the next closest competitor. Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller will probably have to sell off some of their assets to get regulatory approval, the New York Times reported. But even after selling assets, the merged behemoth would account for an estimated 30 percent of beer sales worldwide.