Friday, May 13, 2005

Watching the Watchdogs

In the last six years, nearly 300 companies have tried to influence the outcome of Government Accountability Office investigations through lobbying efforts.

The Center for Public Integrity is watching out for the watchdogs in Washington. They looked at lobbying efforts aimed at federal watchdog agencies. GAO wasn't alone. The Center found efforts to influence investigations at places like the Federal Election Commission and the Office of Government Ethics.

The bunch lobbying the GAO the most was the Nuclear Energy Institute. The GAO has released at least three recent reports dealing with things like security at nuclear plants.

One of the more bizarre findings was that the Air Conditioning Contractors of America was among one of the busiest groups lobbying the Federal Election Commission. (Center for Public Integrity)

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