High profile Senators who announce their retirements—like Evan Bayh of Indiana—will probably make millions in new careers as lobbyists. Since 1998, more than 200 members of Congress left office to enter private life and more than 40% of them registered as lobbyists, working to influence their former colleagues. Special interests spend billions to win special treatment from Congress but lobbying remains the only profession explicitly protected by the Constitution – which guarantees the right to petition the government.

The only way to reduce the power of lobbyists is to reduce the size of government. The more tax money Washington spends, the more lobbyists who’ll seek to benefit. New regulation also creates new lobbyists—representing industries trying to protect themselves from government interference. Bloated bureaucracies always breed corruption and influence-peddling, and today’s Washington offers a prime example.