4 ms·

I mean I understand that we don't want stagnation of ideas and certain sects continuously ruling government. However, the reason that they are lobbyists is beca

I mean I understand that we don't want stagnation of ideas and certain sects continuously ruling government. However, the reason that they are lobbyists is because they are generally experts on the subjects, in no small part due to their government experience. Removing all former government workers as lobbyists a blanket move is heavy-handed and poorly thought out.

protomyth 10y ago
Your version sounds good, but that's not the majority of what happens. They are lobbyists because they know people and its often a cushy, legal payoff for employees who helped the company secure and manage contracts while in government service. The most common reward is as an employee hire after they retire from government services, but the lobbyists often have their origin in the same process.
- abraves10001 10y ago
  I don't disagree. My statement sounded far too overarching. Obviously, a lot of jobs are handouts in form of repayment. I don't think this should be encouraged but I don't think a law banning former federal employees is going to diminish the numerous concerns that lobbying brings up and potentially diminishes the quality of people advising current government.
  - protomyth 10y ago
    I got your meaning (and think the down voting on your original comment is a bit harsh), but the pendulum is probably due to swing the other way, hard. I really don't know what a good balance point is. I have heard a 5 or 7 year ban bandied about, and maybe something time-based is the answer. I think until it goes to a total ban we won't find the true balance point.
    - leesalminen 10y ago
      The pendulum anaolgy is an excellent way of describing how politics in this country works. I've used it often over the past several weeks. One option would be to limit how long someone can work for a lobbying organization (instead of how long must wait before lobbying after government service). What if we restored the importance of civic duty in our society? Top talent could be incentivized to work for the government for non financial reasons. I don't think anyone knows the answer to this problem (yet), but it is a large problem worth solving. Personally, I do feel strongly about civic duty. But after having (briefly) worked on government contracts I found an incredible amount of waste, cronyism and general ineptitude to turn me off. So I joined the software startup world instead ;).

protomyth 10y ago

Your version sounds good, but that's not the majority of what happens. They are lobbyists because they know people and its often a cushy, legal payoff for employees who helped the company secure and manage contracts while in government service. The most common reward is as an employee hire after they retire from government services, but the lobbyists often have their origin in the same process.

abraves10001 10y ago
I don't disagree. My statement sounded far too overarching. Obviously, a lot of jobs are handouts in form of repayment. I don't think this should be encouraged but I don't think a law banning former federal employees is going to diminish the numerous concerns that lobbying brings up and potentially diminishes the quality of people advising current government.
- protomyth 10y ago
  I got your meaning (and think the down voting on your original comment is a bit harsh), but the pendulum is probably due to swing the other way, hard. I really don't know what a good balance point is. I have heard a 5 or 7 year ban bandied about, and maybe something time-based is the answer. I think until it goes to a total ban we won't find the true balance point.
  - leesalminen 10y ago
    The pendulum anaolgy is an excellent way of describing how politics in this country works. I've used it often over the past several weeks. One option would be to limit how long someone can work for a lobbying organization (instead of how long must wait before lobbying after government service). What if we restored the importance of civic duty in our society? Top talent could be incentivized to work for the government for non financial reasons. I don't think anyone knows the answer to this problem (yet), but it is a large problem worth solving. Personally, I do feel strongly about civic duty. But after having (briefly) worked on government contracts I found an incredible amount of waste, cronyism and general ineptitude to turn me off. So I joined the software startup world instead ;).