5 ms·
Totally. I've had this argument with some of my lawyer friends. I admit that "fixing" lobbying is a complex issue that does not have one simple answer. But one
by jklinger410 5y ago
Totally. I've had this argument with some of my lawyer friends. I admit that "fixing" lobbying is a complex issue that does not have one simple answer.
But one thing it shows is that the American democratic process is supremely broken, because we don't seem to be able to punish our bad politicians who are accepting bribes. All you have to do is look at the average age and tenure of the senate compared to approval ratings and it tells it's own story.
My last point is that money is not speech, corporations are not people, and one person equals one vote. If you etched all that in legal framework you would totally still have lobbying, but I'd like to think it would help.
- twoodfin 5y agoBribery is illegal. Even of the form often presupposed on HN threads: "Congressman, if you vote for this bill, Exxon will make sure you have hundreds of donors contributing thousands each to your next campaign." I'm 100% sure such quid pro quos still happen, but because they're unambiguously against the law, they represent at most a tiny fraction of the lobbying dollars that flow through DC. Most lobbying is boring stuff like proposed amendment drafting, outreach to Congressional and agency staff, highly targeted issue & message test polling, ...