Thomas Suddes column in yesterday's Cleveland Plain Dealer is on one hand a criticism of legislative term limits, an on the other hand an examination of the price of doing business, that is giving political contributions, in Ohio: " Object No. 1 of any state legislator in Columbus is, get and stay elected, by collecting donations from Statehouse lobbies, unions and rich people."

The column takes a dim view of most of the legislature, their priorities, and their employment once they leave the Assembly but I like this little snippet about the mountain of fundraising requests a lobbyist receives from candidates.

Example: A lobbyist who knows Columbus like the back of his hand keeps track of all political fund-raising pleas he receives. The lobbyist tallies them for 12 months. His total is conservative because (1) the lobbyist counts only solicitations for an actual event (e.g., a reception) and (2) for each event, he counts only the minimum donation requested.

So, using those "screens," for the year that ended Jan. 31, campaigns and politicians asked this Capitol Square veteran for a total of $118,800 for fund-raising events. Assuming a 40-hour week for 52 weeks, that's $57 an hour, or $2,300 a week. That, arguably, would be a minimum Columbus toll for lobbying.

Yowza. Imagine what that total looks like at the federal level!