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Just how busy are Washington lobbyists these days? Consider this: There are nearly 1,000 fewer of them than there were at this time last year—but their clients are spending just as feverishly as they did a year ago, shelling out $1.6 billion through June 30 alone. 

The number of lobbyists fell slightly and overall lobbying spending stayed flat compared to the first half of 2008, but some groups increased spending dramatically—especially those in health care and energy, the focus of Obama's biggest legislative initiatives. Of the 100 biggest lobbying clients, spending by these companies grew the fastest:

Until recently, executive deferred-compensation plans largely escaped scrutiny by regulators. That changed after Enron Corp. filed for bankruptcy late last year, and court documents showed that some Enron executives had withdrawn millions of dollars from their accounts just before the Chapter 11 filing.

Since Jasmine Nguyen collapsed nine years ago, apparently from a seizure, the 32-year-old has lived in a nursing home in Lodi, Calif., dependent on a ventilator to breathe and the facility's staff for her daily needs.