By Staff / O.B. Rag

There’s a group called MapLight and they keep accounts of which lobbying organizations are in our government’s face – in Congress and at federal agencies – lobbying. MapLight is a 501(c)3 research organization that tracks money’s influence on politics.

Here’s their most recent report – issued July 30, 2015, on the second quarter lobbying expenses for this year – and check it out – we’re always told by the mainstream media that government officials are pressured by labor as well as by corporate lobbyists – that union money is equal to corporate money during elections. You can see by the following list that is patently untrue – at least for this quarter:

On July 20th, filings on federal lobbying expenditures made between April 1, 2015 and June 30, 2015 were due to the Clerk of the US House of Representatives. MapLight analyzed the 10 organizations that spent the most on lobbying Congress and federal agencies during this time period.

Data:

• The American Medical Association spent $12,400,000 in quarter two of 2015, more than in any quarter since 2008 and 1.85 times more than the preceding quarter.

• Boeing spent $9,288,000 in quarter two of 2015, more than in any quarter since 2008 and 2.4 times more than the preceding quarter.

• Business Roundtable spent $6,430,000 in quarter two of 2015, more than in any quarter since 2008 and 1.44 times more than the preceding quarter.

The top 10 lobbying organizations spent a combined $86,778,000 in quarter two of 2015.

Organization – Quarter 2 Lobbying

U.S. Chamber of Commerce* – $22,970,000

American Medical Association – $12,400,000

Boeing – $9,288,000

General Electric – $8,460,000

National Association of Realtors – $8,180,000

Business Roundtable – $6,430,000

National Association of Manufacturers – $4,840,000

Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America – $4,820,000

American Hospital Association – $4,770,000

Google – $4,620,000

*Lobbying expenditures made by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ($17,860,000) were aggregated with expenditures made by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform ($5,110,000), an affiliate organization.

To see detailed information on company lobbying since 2008, please click here to view our comprehensive federal lobbying database.

Lobbying Methodology: MapLight analysis of federal lobbying disclosure filings from the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives between April 1, 2015, and June 30, 2015.

Lobbying totals represent money paid by an organization to each lobbying firm for services on all issues. Organizations report total lobbying expenses as a lump sum, which includes both in-house lobbying expenses and amounts paid to (and reported by) lobbying firms that they employ. MapLight calculates a given organization’s in-house lobbying expenses by subtracting the total income reported by the lobbying firms that it employs from the company’s total reported expenses.

In general, filers may round their spending and expenses to the nearest $10,000, and we treat the designation of “Less than $5,000” as a value of $0. MapLight updates its lobbying database daily to capture amendments. Full reports are due on the 20th day of January, April, July, and October.

Editor’s note: Please go to the MapLight website for links to the individual corporate amounts.