The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is starting off 2012 in a big way with lobbying and advocacy campaigns, though it is not spending quite as much as it did during the same period in the last federal election year. The Chamber and its affiliate Institute for Legal Reform spent $26.2 million in the first three months of 2012, according to disclosure reports filed with Congress. That’s about $9 million more than the first quarter of 2011, but still nearly $5 million less than in the first quarter of 2010. The Chamber went on to spend more than $131 million in 2010. A preliminary analysis of reports filed by hundreds of associations, and tracked by CEO Update, shows that spending… Read More