U.S. Chamber of Commerce Spent $37 Million on Lobbying in Third Quarter

[ProSense]

Source: Bloomberg

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its legal-reform affiliate spent $37 million to lobby Congress and the executive branch in the last three months, bringing its total for the year to $81 million.

That’s one-fourth more than the $65 million the group spent between January and September 2009. For all last year, the chamber and its Institute for Legal Reform spent a record $144 million on lobbying.

The chamber, the largest U.S. business lobby, failed to prevent President Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress from overhauling health care and regulating the financial industry. The group has said it plans to spend $75 million to support congressional candidates in November’s election. Most of the money spent by the chamber on political activities from July through September has gone for advertisements backing Republican candidates.

The group has led efforts against legislation requiring it to disclose the corporations and individuals funding its political activities; the measure was blocked by Senate Republicans in September.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-20/u-s-chamber-of-commerce-spent-37-million-on-lobbying-in-third-quarter.html