| So two issues with that statement. 1) Is it wrong to lobby politicians in general? This can be debatable, but I would say a strong democracy should decide that individuals, organizations, and corporations can only make their cases in public hearings and on the record. That way we see where everyone stands and what exactly the arguments are for or against something. So it may not be illegal for an entity to "talk" to a politician about an issue, but I would argue that it would be best if everything they say about a certain policy or bill should be on the record, not in the back stage. There are thousands of "little things" like these that could make the U.S. a better democracy. 2) How do you define "lobbying"? Is it just talking to a politician or is it talking plus something like: "Hey, we've just donated $50,000 to your campaign as well. No worries, we just did it because we liked you, right after our conversations on how it would be best for you to vote ;). Oh, and we're only doing the winking because it would be illegal for us to tell you that we're giving you this much money to vote how we want on that bill." Yeah, I would say that should definitely be illegal - in the sense that no company or organization should be able to donate as much as $50,000 (or more) to a politician. I'm strictly in favor of sub-$500 donations a year to a politician. The "money vote" that's represented by campaign donations is greatly skewing how a politician should vote, because he or she would then have to listen to those that donated the most by far, compared to the people that donated only $30. So the "money vote" should be as "equalized" and "universal" as the real vote is (as much as possible at least, but I think it should be under $1,000, because beyond $1,000 it still incetivizes politicians to hold fundraisers with rich people). |