When Lobbying was Illegal
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When Lobbying was Illegal
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Re: When Lobbying was Illegal
#2I am thinking that in the future campaign contributions might eventually matter less than it does today. For example, it is a good thing all 40 states in the US does not do the presidential primary on the same day.
Re: When Lobbying was Illegal
#3> Wouldn’t it be nice if lobbying were illegal?
Honestly, no. It's essential that law makers can be informed by all interested parties. The problem is a lack of transparency. Complex to control but not impossible. Every single meeting between an elected officials and anyone lobbying them should be in some way recorded and made public. As if it were a public debate. The other issue is fund raising. Too broad and complex to really go into here but if a politician didn't or couldn't raise funds it would make lobbying more honest, imho.
Re: When Lobbying was Illegal
#4> Wouldn’t it be nice if lobbying were illegal? Honestly, no. It's essential that law makers can be informed by all interested parties. The problem is a lack of transparency. Complex to control but not impossible. Every single meeting between an elected officials and anyone lobbying them should be in some way recorded and made public. As if it were a public debate. The other issue is fund raising. Too broad and compl…
That's a good point. The biggest problem with it though is how effective it can be at influencing policy against the public interest. I suppose if I wrote a letter to my congressperson it would be considered lobbying but that's rarely what people mean.
Re: When Lobbying was Illegal
#5This is very selective reading of history.
Politics were probably more corrupt and lobbying was even more dominant (just in different forms) in the 1800s.
Obviously, the train has gone off the rails at this point, but we aren't at a fundamentally different place politically than we were in, say 1896, when many of the same issues were at play.
Re: When Lobbying was Illegal
#6I am thinking that in the future campaign contributions might eventually matter less than it does today. For example, it is a good thing all 40 states in the US does not do the presidential primary on the same day.
How so? I think the biggest problem with campaign contributions is that ads are so incredibly effective at getting congresspeople reelected. Maybe if everyone agreed to ignore these ads campaign contributions would be worthless. But there's a significant enough number of people who are swayed by it to matter.
Re: When Lobbying was Illegal
#7> Wouldn’t it be nice if lobbying were illegal? Honestly, no. It's essential that law makers can be informed by all interested parties. The problem is a lack of transparency. Complex to control but not impossible. Every single meeting between an elected officials and anyone lobbying them should be in some way recorded and made public. As if it were a public debate. The other issue is fund raising. Too broad and compl…
Transparency means nothing. If anything, many of the transparency programs are fodder, advertisements for lobbyists -- they prospect clients by showing them all of the big shots the competition are meeting with.
If lobbying and fundraising were more restrictive, ultimately access to policy makers and legislators would improve. Today, all that matters is the check.
Re: When Lobbying was Illegal
#8I am thinking that in the future campaign contributions might eventually matter less than it does today. For example, it is a good thing all 40 states in the US does not do the presidential primary on the same day.
How so? I think the biggest problem with campaign contributions is that ads are so incredibly effective at getting congresspeople reelected. Maybe if everyone agreed to ignore these ads campaign contributions would be worthless. But there's a significant enough number of people who are swayed by it to matter.
I am talking about in the future when less people watch TV for example.
Re: When Lobbying was Illegal
#9This is very selective reading of history. Politics were probably more corrupt and lobbying was even more dominant (just in different forms) in the 1800s. Obviously, the train has gone off the rails at this point, but we aren't at a fundamentally different place politically than we were in, say 1896, when many of the same issues were at play.
Definitely. At that time the biggest issue was supporters of candidates being given jobs in the government just because they were supporters. It was a huge problem and definitely makes me think lobbying must not have been a concern.
Re: When Lobbying was Illegal
#10This is very selective reading of history. Politics were probably more corrupt and lobbying was even more dominant (just in different forms) in the 1800s. Obviously, the train has gone off the rails at this point, but we aren't at a fundamentally different place politically than we were in, say 1896, when many of the same issues were at play.
One aspect is that in the 1800s the federal government had maybe 5% of the power it has today.
So congress had far less product to sell.