I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stand it any longer! The hypocrisy and demagoguery of the holier-than-thou factions that attempt to paint \u00e2\u20ac\u0153lobbyists\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as the scourge of a democratic and free society are enough to piss off the Pope. <\/p>\n
A recent poll suggests that an overwhelming majority of the Montana electorate supports this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ballot initiative to reign in those yucky scoundrels. Newspaper articles and our charismatic governor continually characterize elected officials as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153representing all the people\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and lobbyists as representing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153one special interest group\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. How noble! How philosophical! How nauseating! <\/p>\n
Lobbyists are not a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153necessary evil\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they are a necessary ELEMENT in a representative democracy. <\/p>\n
Think for a minute: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153An elected official represents all the people\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Wanna see half of the people in this country go nucking futs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c tell them George Bush represents them. Get real! An elected official represents the majority of the voters \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not people! – of the district from which he was elected (except for the President and the Electoral College thing, but let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s leave that alone for this discussion \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the point\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still valid). In this country, that often means that more citizens in any given district did not vote for the winner as voted for him. Every district is made up of myriads of folks with a plethora of differing opinions on different issues. There is no way any one elected official can begin to represent all of them all!<\/p>\n
Lobbyists, on the other hand, generally do represent a single issue, group, organization, or \u00e2\u20ac\u201c oh horrors! – company \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Special Interest Group\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. It is their job to constantly watch what is going on in Congress or the Legislature and to make sure that the elected officials know how their particular group feels about a given piece of legislation. The alternative would be for every single citizen to be in Washington DC and\/or Helena every day that congress or the legislature is in session, attending every hearing and testifying on every bill that could conceivably affect them one way or the other. Just think \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 900,000 Montanans in Helena every other winter for three months. Mind-boggling? You bet your bippy! More to the point \u00e2\u20ac\u201c after spending all that time tracking every piece of legislation, preparing and presenting testimony, lobbying as it were, for or against whatever issues float your boat \u00e2\u20ac\u201c when would you have time to earn a living, raise your kids, blog your brains out, or whatever it is that you do to fill the days? No matter how you feel about any issue \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if some level of government can regulate it, tax it, fund it, or otherwise impact it \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there will be highly paid professionals out there bird-dogging it on behalf of their clients. Thank God. Otherwise we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have our elected officials representing only those dedicated citizens who have the time and inclination to contact them.<\/p>\n
The recent uproar and folderol over lobbyists and members of congress should generate some honest debate about how our system works and what, if anything, needs to be done. The demagogic value judgment that lobbyists are inherently evil is counter-productive to a healthy and representative democratic government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stand it any longer! The hypocrisy and demagoguery of the holier-than-thou factions that attempt to paint \u00e2\u20ac\u0153lobbyists\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as the scourge of a democratic and free society are enough to piss off the Pope. A recent poll suggests that … Continue reading