[bkohlmann]

While I am against Intuits efforts, what astounds me most is how LITTLE money is spent lobbying. A few million over a year is peanuts compared to the broader market opportunity. And the implication that Congresspeople are bought off by sums as low as "$32,000" since 2008 seems unlikely. Intuit and H&R may simply contribute to those they know already support their agenda.

[mikeash]

Members of Congress are amazingly cheap. And this particular issue is one they won't get a lot of trouble over, which makes it even cheaper.

[markkanof]

You do occasionally hear the random news item about people who are willing to kill other people for what seems like paltry sums of money or people who spend years and years skimming money from the company they work for, but the total amount stolen is very small. It wouldn't surprise me if there are members of congress that would be willing to push some agenda for a 32,000 donation.

[username223]

As recently as 2006, Duke Cunningham was offering 10s of millions of dollars in defense contracts in exchange for a boat and a couple hundred thousand in cash:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Cunningham#Allegations

That's guaranteed money, not just "influence." If you have enough money to play, Congressmen offer enormous returns.