Details about this story

• Source: New York Times
• Date: August 13, 2008
• URL: Read the story
• Bylines: Ron Nixon , Robert Pear
• Topics: Campaign Finance , Lobbying , Congress
• Data Types: Federal Data
• Description/Excerpt: Before Congress adopted a new ethics law requiring lobbyists to detail their campaign giving, the conventional wisdom had been that most lobbyists hedged their bets by donating freely to members of both parties. But the first filings under the law show that party loyalty often wins out. More than three-fourths of the federally registered lobbyists making campaign contributions in excess of $25,000 this year have showered money mainly on one political party or the other, according to the reports they filed with Congress at the end of last month. Campaign finance experts say the reports, which cover the first half of 2008, do not fully reflect the lobbyists’ influence because they do not disclose all the ways lobbyists can help politicians raise money. But the reports do provide a detailed look at special-interest giving and the way money nurtures relationships between lobbyists and politicians in Washington.