From 2007 to now, there are roughly the same number of registered lobbyists.

They're 11 or 12,000 back then, and there's 12 or 13,000 registered lobbyists now.

And that's in part because people are not registering, but it also is that lobbying has changed.

I'm Bethany McLean.

Did you ever have a moment of doubt about capitalism and whether greed's a good idea?

And I'm Luigi Zengalis.

We have socialism for the very rich, rugged individualism for the poor.

And this is Capital Isn't, a podcast about what is working in capitalism.

First of all, tell me, is there some society you know that doesn't run on greed?

And most importantly, what isn't?

We ought to do better by the people that get left behind.

I don't think we shouldn't kill the capital system in the process.

As the elections approach, everybody's thinking about who is going to govern us next January.

We, at Capitalism, already know the answer. No, we're not psychic,

but we do know that corporate lobbyists will take over. Democrats or Republicans, the ultimate

decision are not made by the elected representative, but by the enormous influence machine

that operates in Washington. To explain how Washington really works, to guide us in understanding what has become a gigantic

and incredibly influential, although all too often invisible industry, we decided to ask

Brody Mullins, an investigative reporter, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and the co-author,

with his brother, and as an aside,

writing a book with one sibling, oh my, of the Wolves of K Street, the secret history of how

big money took over big government. The Mullins started the analysis in the 1970s when Washington

...