Congress doesn’t spin records, they spin in revolving doors. And those doors are spinning faster than ever, according to a study from Public Citizen. The Politico reports on the study, which shows that between 1998 and 2004 a whopping 43 percent of retired lawmakers became lobbyists:

A study done in the post-Watergate era estimated that only 3 percent to 10 percent of retiring members of Congress became lobbyists.

But, from 1998 to 2004, 283 retired lawmakers became lobbyists — a whopping 43 percent of all retiring members, according to a study done by Public Citizen, a nonpartisan watchdog group.

In 2005, eight members joined lobbing firms, although only four ultimately registered to advocate on Capitol Hill. A year later, another nine members followed.

With another seat-cleansing November election apparently in the making, the lobbyist ranks are likely to swell again later this year.

While reforms passed in the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act were meant to stop the flow of lawmakers and staffers down the block to K Street, the cases of Al Wynn, Dennis Hastert, Trent Lott, and Richard Baker all show that the desire to cash in on connections on the Hill is not abating.

Unlike the video below, the revolving door in Washington doesn’t appear to be ready to break anytime soon:

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While many major K Street firms are still increasing their profits, the total improvement of profits over last year was 2.8% in the first half of the year, a significantly smaller increase than recorded over previous years. Doing best these days are firms tilted heavily towards the majority Democrats or those with a strong bipartisan staff. The biggest growth rate was seen by the Podesta Group, a Democratic firm, pulling in 47.4% more than the 2007 first half.

The presidential election year and the slow economy have a lot to do with the K Street slowdown. (Of course, by slowdown, I mean smaller increases in profits; not exactly a slowdown, except in terms of the previous exponential growth rates posted over recent years.) Top ten earners were:

Patton Boggs - $20.5 million (+5.7%)

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld - $17.8 million (+17.1%)

Van Scoyoc Associates - $14.5 million (+16%)

Cassidy & Associates - $12.1 million (-1.6%)

Dutko Worldwide - $10.4 million (-4.1%)

Hogan & Hartson - $10.2 million (+8.5%)

BGR Holdings - $10.2 million (-11.4%)

Ogilvy Government Relations - $9 million (-27.2%)

Williams & Jensen - $8.6 million (+6.0%)

K&L Gates - $8.0 million (+23.5%)

Both Roll Call and The Hill filed reports on this.

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