Agree, and in that vein...why are we allowing ANY lobbying? This whole 'buying lawmakers' process undermines the point of representative gov "of the people, by the people".
My senators and representatives are supposed to be legislating on MY (and other voters) behalf, not some other entities, foreign or otherwise.
Because lobbyists “are” us. And it’s a First Amendment Right to speak to and to petition the gummint as an individual or on behalf of people.
I don’t have time to go to Washington every two weeks to tell my representatives what’s on my mind.
But I can join organizations that will do it for me. Representing personal and professional interests. And when millions are in those organizations, they speak with some clout!
The problem arises when the lobbying is massively funded for issues that go against the wishes of the American people. Or go against their best interests in the pursuit of profits. Or represent an ideology that is counter to American Constitutional Republic laws (especially when it misleads its “members” with one message and its executives push another (AARP, Unions, AMA — all massively socialist and woke).
Though remember… when it comes to big business… with those profits come jobs, factories, tax revenue and economic strength as well as return for shareholders, who are also “the people.” But then it also can come with “let us pay slave wages, dump waste in rivers and it’s ok if those gas tanks explode or we get a few flipper kids for our miracle drug.”
I’m not against lobbying. It is one of the miracles of our system. I am against lobbying when it is huge money being used as a weapon against the best interests or the wishes of the vast majority of Americans. And when it buys votes. And when it is being hidden (ie all that USAID money and Green New Deal money and Covid Relief money was channeling back into one party’s coffers… and that one party was determined to fundamentally change America… by destroying it.
And this is not to say that tiny minority opinion should not be represented by lobbying. Heck, it should Especially be represented by lobbying in a republic. But when huge activist $$$ is making tiny minority opinion look like grassroots mass approval (astroturfing) it should be made clear to the American People and to our Representatives what it really is. So they can ignore it or shut it down as fraud.
That’s how transparency works. Or should work.
Sirhr
