The Washington Post reports that the return on investments companies make in lobbying is so big that lobbying will certainly continue to increase no matter what reforms are passed. In a related story, the Wall Street Journal reports that lobbying expenditures for the first half of 2005 reached $1.16 billion – a record for lobbying. “Corporations, trade associations, lawyers and unions spent about $6.5 million a day to lobby Congress and the Bush administration during the latest period.” The high amount of lobbying money was spurred by President Bush’s Social Security proposal. The top lobbying spender for the half was AARP, also the leading opponent of the Social Security overhaul, spending $27.8 million.