Influence

Technology, banking and other industries mounted a new round of lobbying Monday to save a wide range of tax breaks following the last-minute switch in the federal tax overhaul by the U.S. Senate.

OMAHA, Neb.—In the parking lot outside Elliott Equipment Co.’s manufacturing plant here last month, more than a hundred employees gathered in front of a banner-bedecked truck, its raised boom flying an American flag 30 feet overhead, to hear from the company’s chief executive and the local congressman.

At Louisiana health-care company LHC Group Inc., the board’s compensation committee has approved a 90% raise for the chief executive over

Nobody knows how to throw a party like the electric industry -- especially for lawmakers.

From Las Vegas golf outings and January's $21,500 Electric Swamp Boogie, to quiet dinners and chartered flights for Razorback ballgames, the electric industry pulled out the stops to court legislators in the battle over deregulation.

Departing senators are finding that the life of an ex-lawmaker can be lucrative. In recent months, several have found spots in corporate boardroom, even if they have no direct business experience in the industries wooing them.