U.S. Chamber and many other groups pick up pace in election year, but some key players report spending considerably less Congress may have trouble getting anything done before the election, but that’s not stopping many nonprofit groups from starting 2012 with a little more money behind their lobbying and advocacy campaigns—at least compared with the first three months of last year. However, spending is down slightly from the first quarter of 2010. Lobbying expenses reported to Congress are up 7 percent from the first quarter of 2011, according to an analysis of about 700 groups tracked by CEO Update. That upswing is driven in large part by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce… Read More