Blog Post 2.1 - "The Revolving Door"

1. Senators are more likely to become lobbyists, with half of them going on to that profession and only a third of representatives. 
2. The lobbying industry was simply not as big then, with most of the growth in lobbying occurring during the 1990s.
3. The research only documents the number of registered lobbyists, when there is a significant number of former congressmen that do not register but still do work that is incredibly similar to lobbying. There is probably twice as much lobbying going on than reported. Also, data before 1995, registration rules were a lot looser so there were likely more than reported as well. 
4. Former chairmen probably have more connections than other, regular congressmen. More connections means better lobbyists, since their major function is access. Chairmen also have better senses of what needs to be done to affect policy, since they have experience in directing policy. 
5. The author is not convinced that registration requirements are very effective, since he says that former congressmen will always find ways to lobby without officially registering. He also says that the problem is really where they are lobbying. 
6. For every $1 spent by public interest groups and lobbies combined, corporations spend $34. 
7. Former congressmen are much more likely to lobby for corporations instead of public interest groups. This is because they charge dearly for their services, and only corporations are really able to pay these high rates.