Political influence for sale, especially in the USA

Lobbying for an industry or organization has really taken off. Google spent as much as 5.5 million dollars in the first quarter of this year to win over the American government. In sharp contrast to the money spent by publishers and the printing industry in the USA. In 2014 printers spent ´only´ 31,850 dollars on lobbying. Maplight gave us these numbers. Numbers for Europe are not known, but are certainly lower.