Birnbaum, Jeffrey H. The Lobbyists: How Influence Peddlers Get Their Way in Washington. New York: Times Books - Random House, 1992. 335 pages.

Jeffrey Birnbaum is a political reporter who has covered Washington for the Wall Street Journal since 1982. Without the WSJ connection, it's doubtful that the dozen or so lobbyists profiled by Birnbaum would have put up with him for three years -- the limousines and dinner parties are stressful enough without being puppy-dogged by a thirty-something reporter.

Birnbaum got away with it, and his book hits the stores just as lobbyists are gearing up to pick Clinton's proposals to death. The main issues pursued by Birnbaum's lobbyists are tax breaks for big business; these include capital gains cuts for corporations, pressure from trucking associations to keep the gas tax low, and sundry esoteric loopholes for special interests and industries. All lobbyists earn huge salaries, as a tiny change in the tax code can mean megabucks for the corporations that employ them. So the lobbyists spread around even more money -- to pay think- tank professors to produce studies proving their positions, and for PR to disguise the effects of proposals. (For example, capital gains cuts are not tax breaks for the wealthy, but simply a well-intentioned effort to put more into research and development so that America doesn't lose its technological advantage.) Plenty of money is also used to buy access to congressmen; these, of course, are called "campaign contributions."
ISBN 0-8129-2086-4

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