Lobbying records shattered in 2009

President Obama says he’s acted to curb the influence of lobbyists. I disagree with that claim, as I’ve written in today’s column. Regardless of his intentions and the effectiveness of his executive orders and rules, this much, I think is evident: Obama’s aggressive plans to expand the federal role in energy, health-care, finance, and more has been good news for lobbyists. It’s simple economics: make government more important, and you make government affairs more important.

Some evidence of an Obama lobbying boom are the records that were shattered in 2009 (fourth quarter lobbying reports just came in last week).