SOURCE: Las Vegas Review-Journal

The top lobbyist for Nevada casinos in the nation's capital received more than $2 million in compensation, benefits, and allowance in 2006, a survey by National Journal shows.

Frank Fahrenkopf, president and chief executive officer of the American Gaming Association, was paid an annual salary of $1.39 million and received another $663,661 in benefits and allowance for a total compensation package of $2,054,661.

Those figures came from reports filed by the gaming association with the Internal Revenue Service in 2005 and 2006, according to National Journal, a magazine that covers the federal government.

"It's a free market system, and that's just the way Washington works," said Dennis Johnson, a professor of political management at George Washington University.

"A lot of people are making a considerable amount of money and their purpose in life is to persuade Congress to do what their clients want, and their clients are very willing to pay big bucks to get what they want from Congress," Johnson said.

Among Washington lobbyists, the 68-year-old Fahrenkopf ranked 13th in total compensation and 20th in salary.

The highest-paid lobbyist in both categories was Robert Glauber, who retired in 2006 as the chief executive of the National Association of Securities Dealers (now known as the Financial Industry's Regulatory Authority) with a total compensation and benefits package of $6.8 million.

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