Number of Special Interests Vying to Influence Health Reform Legislation Swelled As Debate Dragged On

Time has rarely been an ally of President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats seeking to enact comprehensive health care reform. And the longer they took, the larger the army of special interest lobbyists grew.

During the course of 2009, the number of corporations, trade associations and other organizations that disclosed lobbying on the health care reform bills grew at an astounding rate, according to a new Center for Responsive Politics analysis of lobbying reports filed with the Senate Office of Public Records.

By the end of the fourth quarter when both the House and the Senate adopted versions of the bill, the number of clients had increased by nearly 300 percent, the Center for Responsive Politics found -- up to 1,541 clients.
 
In contrast, just 398 lobbying clients during the first quarter of 2009 had filed reports that mentioned the Democrats' health care reform proposals.

REST AT http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/03/number-of-special-interest-groups-v.html