Spends more on lobbying in Q4 of 2009 than any other group did all year
It's no secret the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was embroiled in one two of the most expensive lobbying efforts in the organization's 98-year history in 2009. According to lobbying disclosure forms released this week, the Chamber spent $123 million on all lobbying activities for 2009, nearly double the $62 million spent in 2008. In the fourth quarter of 2009, when the health care and climate change debates were heating up on Capitol Hill, so were the Chamber checkbooks, to the tune of $71 million.
The Chamber's strong opposition to climate policy--and their strategy of challenging the science behind it--moved several large companies including Apple and several major energy utilities to leave the group in protest. Just how much is the Chamber spending on lobbyists? Check out this striking graph from The National Journal:
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[...] any cap-and-trade legislation. But the strong opposition to aggressive action on climate change and the millions of dollars the Chamber has spent on lobbying against action on climate has several companies questioning their desire to be associated with the umbrella business [...]
[...] negative stance on climate and clean energy legislation in the past year (as well as the hundreds of millions of dollars it is spending on lobbying against such legislation). Now, electronics retail giant Best Buy is putting on its boxing gloves as [...]
[...] negative stance on climate and clean energy legislation in the past year (as well as the hundreds of millions of dollars it is spending on lobbying against such legislation). Now, electronics retail giant Best Buy is putting on its boxing gloves as [...]