[danielweber]

Petitioning the government is lobbying the government. That's what lobbying is, no more or no less.

I don't speak for the other commenter and wouldn't think to explain his comment. However, when people speak about the government being bought, they generally mean one of three things, correctly or not:

1. Lobbying. Someone spends a lot of money to hire people with connections who can catch the ear of government.

2. Campaign donations. You can donate money directly to someone's campaign, or even exercise your free speech rights yourself to endorse or criticize someone's campaign.

3. Simple bribery. This is when you find a Senator with a few hundred thousand dollars of cash in his freezer.