The Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics reports today that lobbyists who are trying to get Congress to do their bidding spent a whopping $2.8-billion (US) last year, a jump of 7.7 per cent over the amount lobbyists are believed to have spent in 2006.... As the CRP explains: The Center for Responsive Politics calculated spending on lobbying as narrowly defined under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, because that is what is disclosed to the Senate Office of Public Records (SOPR) and House Legislative Resource Center.