The so-called “swamp” isn’t going anywhere under Donald Trump. In fact, it scored a huge payday last year as lobbyists stormed Capitol Hill to help their clients capitalize on GOP lawmakers’ giant tax giveaway to big business. CBS writes:
The figures for the heavyweights are eye-popping.
The National Association of Realtors tallied $22.2 million between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, according to newly filed disclosure reports. That’s double what the organization spent in the third quarter on lobbying activities. The Business Roundtable spent $17.3 million in the fourth quarter, nearly quadruple the amount over the three previous months, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported spending $16.8 million, a $3.7 million increase.
President Donald Trump swept into the White House promising to “drain the swamp” in Washington, but lobbyists continue to wield considerable influence and they plied their trade with vigor as Congress crafted the $1.5 trillion tax-cut package that Trump signed into law in late December.
The nonprofit group Public Citizen found that upward of 5,000 lobbyists swarmed the Capitol to make sure their clients profited from the GOP’s tax rewrite.
Unfortunately, any American taxpayer who isn’t a millionaire or billionaire didn’t have much leverage as Republicans picked the winners and losers of their tax overhaul. So most American taxpayers came out losers in that negotiation. But not corporate America or the top 1 percent—they did just peachy.