Washington Post: Old pols lobby for the health care industry--at a cost of $1.4 m a day

A story in today's Washington Post by Dan Eggen and Kimberly Kindy, details the health care industry's use of former Congress members and staffers as lobbyists. The writers' analysis shows that "three of every four major health-care firms have at least one former insider on their lobbying payrolls."

"The hirings are part of a record-breaking influence campaign by the health-care industry," write Eggen and Kindy, "which is spending more than $1.4 million a day on lobbying in the current fight, according to disclosure records. And even in a city where lobbying is a part of life, the scale of the effort has drawn attention. For example, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) doubled its spending to nearly $7 million in the first quarter of 2009, followed by Pfizer, with more than $6 million.