By definition, the act of lobbying is seeking influence. In 2016 the United States Congress received nearly thirty million dollars in influence. Lobbying can be used for good, but many times money is used to further the cause of corporate interests. These interests often find themselves at odds with today's progressive ideals, such as fixing climate change, ending the cycle of for-profit incarceration, and reforming Wall Street. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Lobbying in the United States is completely legal and is not inherently evil. A lobbyist is simply a professional hired to represent their client's interests before any elected official, and these lobbyists can represent any type of group, such as large corporations, labor unions, and nonprofit organizations. According to Tim Roemer, who represented Indiana's third congressional district from 1991 to 2003, he raised $850,000 in his 1991 congressional campaign. Between 1986 and 2012, the cost of a congressional race increased 344 percent. Incumbent Senate presidents had to raise over $4,700 a day for 6 years to keep their seats. (represent.us) What role does this information play in lobbying? Well, it's nearly impossible for members of congress to raise that amount of money every day, so they have to rely on major donations and lobbying to meet their financial needs. Many times, such financial needs come at the expense of business interests. Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff said, “You can't take a congressman to lunch for $25 and buy him a steak. But you can take him to a fundraising lunch and not only buy him that steak, but give him an extra $25,000 and call it a fundraiser.” When the issue of climate change is addressed and debated by the United States Congress, it is approached as a controversial issue. It is not controversial how we solve it, but whether it exists or not. This would not seem logical, given that over 97% of scientists agree that climate change exists and poses a serious threat to our existence, but the opposition has enormous lobbying power. (Nasa.gov) Major fossil fuel companies shell out more than a hundred million dollars a year to oppose efforts to reduce carbon emissions. (Oreskes) With that amount of money for advertising and lobbying, it is not difficult to spread your message, regardless of the truth. On the other hand, there is almost no financial pressure to fight climate change. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island says, “Washington's dirty secret is that even American companies that are really good about sustainability make no clear effort to pressure Congress on climate change.” (Flows) The money that is lobbied against climate change is funneled directly into advertising campaigns and the political campaigns of legislators. To make the correlation between votes and fossil fuel money clear, lobbying occurs along party lines, as do votes. For example, the recent Senate vote to maintain Obama-era rules passed Congress by a vote of 51 to 49. Only 4 Republican senators voted for it and none of them received registered donations from the fossil fuel industries. All Democrats voted in favor of the former rulesPresident Obama. (Tang, V.) Lobbying is a force strong enough to win the support of half a nation, even when the evidence and support says the votes should be cast differently. Lobbying is aided by fake news and tends to be extremely profitable for both parties. A similar effect has occurred with the prison system in the United States. The United States has the highest number of incarcerated people, by ratio, in the world. There are more prisons than universities in the United States, and they are home to more than 2.2 million people. In the early 1980s, mandatory minimum sentencing laws quadrupled the prison population. Most of this population is made up of nonviolent drug offenders serving a minimum of five years for their first offense. With much concern, incarceration costs taxpayers $79 billion per year, while each convicted felon costs approximately $29,000 per year. Just like school choice and private schools, there is much profit in privatizing our prisons. This profit is highly sought by the two largest private prison companies in the United States, The Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group. Together, these firms have contributed more than $10 million to candidates and invested more than $25 million in lobbying efforts. (Borowski) With this amount of financial influence, it is not hard to believe that private prison companies are pushing to increase sentences in order to shore up profits. Most of these private prison votes occur at the state level and in more conservative states, and privatization can sometimes focus more on profits than functionality. For example, Texas is voting to reopen its largest private prison in order to create a family detention center in Karnes County. This operation is backed by GEO Group, one of the largest correction companies in the United States. There is a correlation between lobbying and votes. The private prison industry is worth more than $70 billion, and 33 states have private prisons. Between 1990 and 2009 the number of prisoners in private prisons increased by 1,600%. (Borowski) This is a problem. Between 2012 and 2014, financial services firms spent more than $1.2 billion on campaign contributions and lobbying Congress. This amount of spending was the largest ever recorded for midterm campaign contributions. Financial services, also known as Wall Street, is the largest spender on campaign contributions and the second largest spender on lobbying. Conservatives regained control of Congress in 2014, and large amounts of spending and election victories coincided with a $1 trillion spending bill that would keep the government running and also undermine key provisions of Dodd -Frank Financial Regulatory Act. (Greenfield) Due to a standoff between Democrats and Republicans, a version that did not undermine Dodd-Frank regulations was passed, and campaign contributions were then focused on the subsequent presidential campaign. Lobbying is not always successful, but it is very effective and wins elections and, in most cases, votes. Those with the most money can make the rules in Washington. The largest financial institutions are, of course, focused on making as much profit as possible. Although they lost the vote in 2015, a new one arose with the same goal: to reject, water down, and completely repeal financial reform. With so much power and money, Wall Street has almost unlimited influence on Washington. To reiterate, by definition, the act of lobbying is.