Companies find new way to win contracts

Michael Forsythe and Jonathan D. Salant of Bloomberg analyzed Federal Election Commission records and found that a growing number of companies had found “a new business model: locate facilities in lawmakers’ districts and shower them with campaign cash. ” The companies were taking advantage of lawmakers’ increasing penchant for “earmarking,” which was at the center of the scandal involving a California Republican serving a prison sentence after admitting he took $2.4 million in bribes to help secure defense-company contracts.