The Chamber’s 2009 Lobbying Tab

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

National Journal compiled the stunning graph below from the lobbying expenditures for the fourth quarter of 2009, which were submitted last week. The groups that traditionally devote the most money to lobbying on health care spent roughly the same as they did in 2008. But there was one major exception: the US Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber dropped a total of $123.3 million on lobbying in 2009, compared to $62.3 million in 2008. Of course, it’s important to note that the Chamber wasn’t just lobbying on health care. They’ve been actively campaigning against a number of key issues on the Democratic agenda this year, including climate change legislation, financial reform, and the Employee Free Choice Act. But still, the image is impressive:

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate