Lobbying Pays

This is from the National Journal’s CongressDaily report:

A tax change in 2004 temporarily lowered the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 5.25 percent as an incentive for firms to redeploy their earnings at home to invest in jobs, research and equipment….. Three Kansas professors analyzed the financial reports and lobbying disclosure forms of 476 firms that repatriated about $298 billion. On average, the companies generated a 22,000 percent return from their lobbying efforts, with companies spending the most getting the biggest tax savings. For example, drugmaker Eli Lilly & Co. reported spending $8.52 million in lobbying but saved $2 billion in taxes. Other firms generating large benefits include Pfizer, Merck, Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson and IBM.

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