Lobbying-money record broken again

Spending on lobbying totaled more than $1.2 billion for the last six months of 2005, another record, according to a tally on the website politicalmoneyline.com.

For the year, spending topped $2.36 billion, according to the site. For the first time, during the last half of the year, spending to lobby Congress and the executive branch averaged $200 million a month.

The biggest single spenders in the second half of the year were the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, General Electric, AT&T (including SBC), the Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform and the American Medical Association.

The five firms that reported the highest revenues in the last six months of 2005 were Patton Boggs, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Van Scoyoc Associates, Cassidy & Associates and the Federalist Group.