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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The food industry’s heavy lobbying over the past few years to reduce regulation and paperwork has turned into a “monkey’s paw” of sorts. As the AP says, “Be careful what you wish for; lest it may happen,” is certainly the lesson to be gleaned from the stupifying, and expected, blowback the food industry is receiving right now from their long lobbying effort. Here’s the run-down:

The food industry pressured the Bush administration to reduce paperwork that would have aided health investigators “quickly trace produce that sickens consumers.” The Bush administration also killed a plan to require electronic filing that would enable regulators and investigators to more rapidly search for the source of a food contamination outbreak in the case of an outbreak. The food industry spent millions on lobbying to stop these regulations, as evidenced in this chart from OpenSecrets.org:

The food companies worried about the costliness of these proposals and labeled them “burdensome,” saying that they could disrupt the availability of consumers’ favorite foods.”

Now, according to the AP, during the current salmonella outbreak the food industry has lost $250 million, food supplies have been disrupted, and 1,300 people have gotten sick in 43 states and the District of Columbia. So, even without the regulations the food industry got their food disruption, consumers can’t eat tomatoes or jalapenos (which are chief ingredients in salsa), and a lot of people got to get sick.

The AP calls these “unintended consequences.” I’d say they are totally predictable and the public should take their scorn out on the food industry and their lobbyists for engaging in activities that have made eating more dangerous.

This whole episode reminds me of this scene from Kentucky Fried Movie, where a satirical science film posits a world without zinc oxide:

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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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