A new study is out saying that Wall Street spent over $5 billion trying to influence Washington between 1998 and 2008:

A group called Wall Street Watch is out with a report that finds that “Wall Street investment firms, commercial banks, hedge funds, real estate companies and insurance conglomerates made $1.7 billion in political contributions and spent another $3.4 billion on lobbyists” between 1998 and 2008.
The report, “Sold Out: How Wall Street and Washington Betrayed America,” concludes that the contributions were “aimed at undercutting federal regulation” and ultimately “led directly to the current financial collapse.”

I know nothing about the group behind the report — or about the report itself — save what I’ve read in this story. But let’s assume the numbers are right. Here’s a prediction: Wall Street will spend far more on influencing Washington over the next ten years, even though Wall Street wil have less money and fewer firms to bribe Uncle Sam. Why? Because history shows time and again that the more government gets involved in business the more business finds it necessary to get involved in government. Obama talks a lot about the days of lobbyists and influence peddling are over. They’ve barely even begun.