An article published yesterday in Roll Call highlights a new website published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—one of Washington’s most powerful players—to help them gain Congressional approval for potential trade pacts. Aside from the new slick way the Chamber intends to influence members of Congress, the article itself mentions people and organizations who take part in the traditional ways of Washington influence. Here’s a look at the influence behind the names mentioned in the piece:

• The Chamber Of Commerce made nearly $6 million in campaign contributions in the 2009-2010 election cycle. The Chamber spent more than $223 million on lobbying between 2009 and 2010.
• The AFL-CIO made $4.3 million in campaign contributions and spent $4.9 million in lobbying money. The labor union most recently disclosed lobbying the Department of Defense budget and the budget for the Department of the Interior.
• Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., received $940,000 in campaign contributions for the 2009-2010 election cycle.
• Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., received nearly $538,000 in campaign contributions for the 2009-2010 election cycle.

Check out http://influenceexplorer.com/ to learn more about what industries and people benefit from the money given and received.

‘Influence Explored’ takes an article from the day’s headlines and exposes the influential ways of entities mentioned in the article. Names and corporations are run through Sunlight’s influence tracking tools such as Influence Explorer and Transparency Data to remind readers of the money that powers Washington.