Lobbying and Democracy

Some facts from Harper's Index this month:

# of registered drug-company lobbyists in DC for every member of Congress: 2
Average amount spent on Congressional lobyying, per day, by healthcare cos.: $1,500,000
Average amount the U.S. government spends on each child during first 18-years: $140,000

Is there something wrong with these numbers? As with the banks, companies are paying extraordinary amounts of money so they can drain more money out of your pockets. Of course they are scared of the government -- they have the power to make healthcare a public good, like it is in the rest of the world. The definition of a public good is one that is not owned privately, mainly because the social benefits and externalities are so great it is not well served by normal market function. Huh, might healthcare fit that definition? Could there be both individual, family and larger social good from a healthier population with more money to spend on other goods? Um . . .