Florida Lobbyists Find Reasons to Spread Cash Around; Washington Lobbyists, Not so Much

Big difference between how lobbyists in Florida and how their muscular equivalent in Washington are reacting to Election 2012 and the matter of the atrophic economy.

In volatile Florida -- alive with issues percolating for the next legislative session -- lobbyists are throwing money around like Abu Dhabi sheiks at a Kentucky Derby after-party -- albeit under the cover of super-PAC darkness.

In Washington, meanwhile, where Congress is "increasingly idle," the 50 largest lobbying spenders -- including big boys like AT&T and the National Association of Realtors -- together spent about $168 million lobbying Congress between April and June. That's a $30 million decline from the first quarter.

An across-the-board decline, as this one is, represents a direct reflection of the lack of any meaningful action by Congress to address the major issues facing our economy, said Tita Freeman of the Business Roundtable, an association of leading corporate chief executives.

Read all about it in Monday's Politico. The online national "newspaper" analyzed the latest lobbying disclosures.

Says Politico's Dave Levinthal, "Of the top 50 lobbying spenders, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics based on first quarter filings, only 11 reported increases from the first quarter of the year. These trend buckers include Koch Industries (2.3 million to $3.07 million), BP ($2.23 million to $2.56 million), Altria ($2.2 million to $2.8 million) and the National Education Association ($2.25 million to $2.48 million)."

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