Excerpt taken from the article.
Chief executives of Washington's most active trade lobby groups defied the sluggish economy and enjoyed pay increases averaging 16 percent.
Heads of the 30 top industry associations took home an average of $2.34 million in 2010, up from $2.02 million the previous year, according to tax data. Those groups have spent $1.67 billion in Washington lobbying since Barack Obama entered the White House, with the U.S.Chamber of Commerce accounting for one-third of that amount.
"The nature of their core activity is recession-proof," said
Marcus Owens, a partner at Caplin & Drysdale, a Washington law firm, and former director at the Internal Revenue Service, where he oversaw cases on tax policy and nonprofits. "Even in a recession, the government continues to make decisions."
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