Since 2000, the number of registered lobbyists in Washington, DC has more than doubled from 16,300 to 34,800. That works out to 65 lobbyists for every Congressman.

These lobbyists spend $200 million every month, wining, dining and corrupting the very people who are voted in to represent America.

The amount that lobbyists charge their new clients has increased by as much as 100% over the past few years. Only a few other businesses have enjoyed greater prosperity. The lobbying boom has been caused by three factors: rapid growth in government, Republican control of both the White House and Congress, and wide acceptance among corporations that they need to hire professional lobbyists to secure their share of federal benefits. To the great growth industries in America, such as health care and home building add one more: influence peddling.

Lobbying firms can't hire people fast enough. Starting salaries have risen to about $300,000 a year for the best-connected aides eager to "move downtown" from Capitol Hill. Once considered a distasteful post-government vocation, big-bucks lobbying is luring nearly half of all lawmakers when they leave Congress.

In the 1990s, lobbying was largely reactive. Corporations had to fend off restrictive legislative proposals that would cost them money. But with pro-business officials running the executive and legislative branches, companies started to hire well-placed lobbyists to go on the offensive and find ways to profit from tax breaks, loosened regulations and other government goodies that are increasingly available.

"K Street" is the center of Washington's lobbying industry. Many of the major Washington lobbying firms are located in a section sometimes referred to as "the fourth branch of government". K-Street firms hire ex-politicians from both major parties, to hedge their bets.

Jack Abramoff's recent conviction for numerous felonies has called the K Street Project into question. Americans are starting to insist on cleaning up political contributions.

In Connecticut, contributions to politicians from lobbyists and state contractors are banned. In races for governor and state legislature, candidates must fund their own campaigns. And to qualify to run, they must first raise a significant number of small contributions from voters in their district. This allows competitive candidates with something to say a chance without needing access to big money.

Arizona and Maine also have similar public financing regulations. In California, the Clean Money and Fair Elections Act passed the State Assembly in January and moves on to the Senate.

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said: "You can have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, or democracy, but you cannot have both."