Lobbying is a concerted effort designed to achieve some result, typically from government authorities and elected officials. It can consist of the outreach of legislative members, public actions (e.g. mass demonstrations), or combinations of both public and private actions (e.g. encouraging constituents to contact their legislative representatives). As a professional occupation it is also known as "government affairs" or "public affairs" (see this for more information).
Now that everyone who hadn't already has a better understanding of what a Lobbyist is, I come to my question. Should Lobby ism be allowed to take the course it currently is in politics or should changes be made? In today's society, it is extremely hard to run a good campaign for office unless there is a considerable amount of funding for one's cause. However, most politicians who run don't have easy access to their own little piggy bank for this affair so they have to go to supporters who tend to share their opinions. Speculation of course is that these opinions are rather forceful where insubordinate acts made by the politician equal termination of funds and the loss of their public roll.
It is my opinion that lobbyists believe because they donated the most money to the winning politician, they are somehow entitled to have their opinion heard over the mass majority of America who weren't along for the ride with them. I believe that lobbyists should be publicly "praised" if they donated the most to the politician who won so their name can be raised for good publicity but that is as far as their reach goes. For sake of keeping this first article as brief as possible I will just leave it at that but I'll interject throughout the postings to share the rest of my opinion so please share yours!
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3 comments:
Lobbyists should be treated just like every other citizen, it's important to remember that they are in Congress to represent the people of their state in making laws. Not just the big businesses and religious affiliations that give them large amounts of income. They already pay themselves generously if I'm not mistaken I do believe they receive something in the vicinity of 160,000 dollars. Yet the money that isn't used in the campaign goes straight into their pockets. It's a little sad really. Lobbying has it's place but I do believe bribery as it has become should be excluded from the system.
First I'd like to say hello and I'm back... as for this topic... I believe that if you donate money to a politician that shares your same political views is fine. It's a freedom really. And if they were to take that away it would be against the very constitution we are governed under. But also I believe they shouldn't expect a "higher than the rest of society" mind set if the politician you were supporting wins than you put your trust in him and you should let him make the choices he sees fit not you or your organization feels correct. But I believe there should also be a limit on how much one group or person can donate because if some one gave me a lot of money I know I would bend my beliefs slightly to make them a little happier. But there is also a conflict of interest and because if some dishonest politician says stuff just to get money (or votes) than your SOL. So that can be left up to the blog to decide... Till a later day. This is FN Stutzman the future of the US Navy (couldn't be humbler)
Donations are fine, and I agree with the limited amounts which they do have. Although that does not stop the lobbyists that contribute the greatest amount in smaller donations. The lobbyists are perfectly fine with what they do, the problem lies with the politicians that believe they now owe them something. So the best thing you as a citizen can do to fight the biased views of some politicians is to spread the word and don't vote for the incumbent the following year.
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