<Li> mobilization effort produced 90,000 public documents to the Education department advocating against changes </Li> <P> And sometimes merely keeping the status quo could be seen as a victory . When gridlock led to the supposed supercommittee solution, numerous lobbyists from all parts of the political spectrum worked hard, and a stalemate resulted, but with each side defended their own special interests . And while money is an important variable, it is one among many variables, and there have been instances in which huge sums have been spent on lobbying only to have the result backfire . One report suggested that the communications firm AT&T failed to achieve substantial results from its lobbying efforts in 2011, since government antitrust officials rejected its plan to acquire rival T - Mobile . </P> <P> Lobbying is a practical necessity for firms that "live and die" by government decisions, such as large government contractors such as Boeing . A study done in 2006 by Bloomberg News suggested that lobbying was a "sound money - making strategy" for the 20 largest federal contractors . The largest contractor, Lockheed Martin Corporation, received almost $40 billion in federal contracts in 2003 - 4, and spent $16 million on lobbying expenses and campaign donations . For each dollar of lobbying investment, the firm received $2,517 in revenues, according to the report . When the lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates began achieving results with earmarks for colleges and universities and medical centers, new lobbying firms rose to compete with them to win "earmarks of their own", a clear sign that the lobbying was exceedingly effective . </P> <P> Lobbying has been the subject of much debate and discussion . There is general consensus that lobbying has been a significant corrupting influence in American politics, although criticism is not universal, and there have been arguments put forward to suggest that the system is working properly . </P>

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