"K Street lobbyists don't cause corporate favoring legislation. . . "

[annabanana]

Their greatest strength is maintaining the status quo, according to this Salon article. I find it an interesting perspective that I don't recall reading before:

http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/k-street-and-the-status-quo-20015/

" . . . .contrary to popular belief, Washington is not widely for sale to special interests and the K Street lobbyists they hire, at least not in the short term. One of the most in-depth studies ever conducted on the day-to-day workings of Washington, and the only one based on a random sample — the prizewinning 2009 book, Lobbying and Policy Change: Who Wins, Who Loses and Why — reveals that the groups with the most money and lobbyists don’t necessarily get their congressional way. In fact, an analysis of about 100 randomly selected issues with interest-group involvement shows that advocates on both sides of an issue tend to form diverse coalitions, more or less equalizing their resources.

~snip~

The weak link between money and policy change is counterintuitive but understandable, the authors say. The balance of power in Washington already hugely favors the rich. The status quo reflects the considerable advantages the wealthy have managed to secure in the law, down through the generations.

“If they really wanted something, they probably already have it,” Baumgartner says.