I always get a kick out of President Obama talking about not allowing lobbyists in his administration, no special interests, etc...  Of course, we now know Obama doesn't ever mean what he says.  No matter though.  It doesn't really matter who controls the government.  Whether the GOP or DFL there will always be lobbyists because lobbyists feed on government.  Remember the $787 billion (now $862 billion according to the CBO) "stimulus?"  How many lobbyists were hired to "grab" a piece of that government handout action?  Do you think various construction companies hired lobbyists to tout their roadwork prowess?  Do you think state/local governments hired lobbyists to tout their "shovel ready" projects?  Lobbyists are the Remoras of government.  The only difference is that instead of hanging onto a shark, they hang on to leech/sloth government.  Let us quick take a private sector example...  Pretend Microsoft wants to replace all their corporate PCs.  What happens?  Well, PC manufacturers put together sales pitches/bids to accomplish the task.  They send their best sales people to close the deal, etc...  The deal likely involves price reductions, service contract goodies, etc...  Microsoft is all about getting the best PCs and the best price and service level, etc...  The incompetent government announces it "has" $800+ billion for "stimulus."  What happens?  Various companies hire lobbyists to tout their road construction or green job expertise.  Money is awarded based upon the connections of the lobbyist, campaign contributions, project district, favors, etc...  Nowhere in this process is there talk of competitive pricing, service, etc...  No assurance of quality.  Essentially no accountability.  Once the money transfers from Obama's "stimulus" stash, and into the pockets of some construction outfit working on a state/locally lobbied "shovel ready" project, the money is lost forever.  Sure, a bomb detector at the airport certainly is required equipment, but how much less could the government had paid for the equipment?  The moral of the story here is that government doesn't have to produce a profit.  Therefore, traditional business-to-business deals give way to specialty entities called Lobbyists.  Haggling becomes back slapping.  The amount of government "stash" available is directly proportional to the number of lobbyists in D.C.  Reduce the size of government and your lobbyists population will shrink in kind.

Update 2/1/2010: Any questions?