[bmer]

This is an excellent point, and it confuses me to see it being downvoted.

When lobbying is transparent, it actually loses quite a lot of its power. When lobbying is hidden, it becomes far more influential. Who would you trust more? Your favourite Green Party politician, who unbeknownst to you has been hired as an influencer for GroupA, or the slimy scumbag who works as a lobbyist for a GroupA?

However, "transparency" can also be nothing more than obfuscation, when its incomplete. After all, if your favourite politician is never forced to reveal that they are an influencer, but the slimy scumbag is forced to wear a fedora marking them "transparently" as a lobbyist...

Well, guess who wins again?

GroupA.

[viraptor]

I've seen a joke post recently that politicians should work like NASCAR drivers, in outfits covered with logos of companies that gave them money/benefits. And if that was possible to pull off... it's a really cool idea. I guess there are websites collecting that kind of data (+ stock portfolios), but making it impossible to ignore sounds fun.