Chart of the Day: The Shortcut From K Street to Capitol Hill

How lobbyists become congressional aides and former members of Congress become lobbyists.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zrendavir/3074941476/">Zrendavir</a>/Flickr

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It’s like the Capitol Hill version of the circle of life: As a new Congress is seated, incoming members hire lobbyists to work in their offices, while outgoing members consider their next career move—which often means becoming a lobbyist.

This pattern has played out for years, but as a recent report from the Center For Responsive Politcs details, the revolving door between K Street and the Hill is spinning faster than ever. In the 2009-2010 session of Congress, 60 former lobbyists were hired to fill key staff positions; in the current session, more than twice the number ex-lobbyists have been hired.

Data compliled by Remapping Debate shows that 1 in 7 current congressional chiefs of staff are former lobbyists. Meanwhile, nearly a third of members of Congress who left office earlier this year have joined lobbying firms. So far, they’re underperforming: Since 1998, nearly 80 percent of former members of Congress have done some work as lobbyists.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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