merelygifted:

Officially, America’s total 2017 corporate lobbying group spending was $535m, but as much as $675m more was funneled from industry groups to politicians as part of influence campaigns.

Maplight found the off-the-books spending by data-mining the tax returns of more than 100 501©(6) nonprofits – a special tax designation for trade groups, from the US Chamber of Commerce to the Washington State Society of Anesthesiologists.

Nonprofits’ tax returns are public. By looking for line-items like “‘advocacy,’ ‘consulting,’ 'contributions,’ 'coalitions,’ 'consortiums,’ 'government affairs,’ 'communications,’ 'programs,’ 'special projects,’ 'dues,’ 'memberships,’ and 'subscriptions’,” Maplight was able to identify influence money that was not counted because it was laundered through other organizations.

For example, the trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) funneled $100m to the Chamber of Commerce to fund anti-Obamacare lobbying, but marked up the funds as “advocacy,” not “lobbying.”   …