How many times have you clicked a box to add your name to one of those “Make the world a better place. Sign our petition now” email links? Congratulations. You are a lobbyist. Have you ever accepted one whose purpose was to eliminate lobbyists? Congratulations. You are confused.
It’s become fashionable to gripe about lobbying and lobbyists as somehow evil, corrupt, and “un-American”. Trolls and pundits want to storm the castle with torches and pitchforks, demanding their obliteration. Actually, there is nothing more American than a good, old-fashioned lobbyist.
The American founders wanted lobbyists. They expected them. Our own Declaration of Independence says:
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it,…
Lobbying was so important to them that they enshrined it in the First Amendment in our Bill of Rights - Congress shall make no law . . . prohibiting the . . . right of the people . . . to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The Constitution requires that House of Representatives members face election every two years because that makes them more accountable to the people. The president and all members of Congress maintain websites with contact information and email forms to give them your comments and opinions. This stuff doesn’t exist purely for decoration.
There have been lobbyists as long as there have been legislators. The term arose in the United States in the 1830s when representatives of large companies and organizations gathered in the lobby of the US Capitol Building to try to persuade legislators to vote for or against pending legislation. The business has come a long way. Now there are huge firms of professional lobbyists working for and against every issue under the sun.
Of course, the giant megabucks corporations and organizations employ professional lobbyists – oil companies, Wall Street banksters, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Rifle Association. But plenty of organizations working for the public interest do, too – the American Civil Liberties Union, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the AFL-CIO.
The federal Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 contains very strict rules about professional lobbying. All state legislatures also have similar rules. I’ve been lobbying for more than 30 years, at all levels of government. I’ve never given more than a stack of papers and a handshake to any legislator. And not one has ever asked for more.
Lobbyists are no different from members of any other profession. Some are more competent than others. Some are more ethical than others. Some are terrific. Some are swine. Of course we need limits on the gifts that lobbyists can give to legislators. We need a strict definition of and strong punishments for bribery. But we do not need fewer lobbyists. We need more of them.
If the NINETY-NINE PERCENT would do more lobbying, then the lobbyists for the one percent would have less power.
Without lobbyists, we wouldn’t have • Civil Rights Act• Voting Rights Act• drunk driving laws• workplace wage, health, and safety laws• child labor laws
• environmental protection
• safe and healthy food, drugs, air, and water
• social services
• services for military families and veterans
• Social Security
• Consumer protection laws
But we would have
• Slavery
• Legal sweatshops
• Jim Crow Laws
• Many more poor, hungry, homeless, sick, injured, and dead people
Thousands of bills are introduced in Congress every year. Only a few dozen become laws. Nothing moves unless someone pushes it. While you probably won’t be paid for it, you can be a lobbyist, too. There are two simple steps:
• You know what’s important to you. Be familiar with those issues. You don’t have to be an expert. Just follow the news, search online for organizations working on your topic, and then participate with an organization, or more.
• Contact your legislators. Let them know how you feel, and how you want them to vote.
You have every right to contact your legislators as often as you like, about any topic you choose, and it does make a difference. To have even more clout, gather some friends or join an organization and visit your legislators in their district offices.
Since Congress does most of its work through committees, you should know which committees oversee your issues. Committees are very powerful in Congress. The House and Senate websites contain lists of committees and their members.
So if you think our government is on the wrong track, don’t blame the government, or the people who do their part to make it work. Stop watching stupid junk on TV and START LOBBYING.
For More Information
Learn how to lobby your legislators
Why Congress Can’t Get Anything Done. And What You Can Do About It
Guide to the Lobbying Disclosure Act
It’s become fashionable to gripe about lobbying and lobbyists as somehow evil, corrupt, and “un-American”. Trolls and pundits want to storm the castle with torches and pitchforks, demanding their obliteration. Actually, there is nothing more American than a good, old-fashioned lobbyist.
The American founders wanted lobbyists. They expected them. Our own Declaration of Independence says:
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it,…
Lobbying was so important to them that they enshrined it in the First Amendment in our Bill of Rights - Congress shall make no law . . . prohibiting the . . . right of the people . . . to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The Constitution requires that House of Representatives members face election every two years because that makes them more accountable to the people. The president and all members of Congress maintain websites with contact information and email forms to give them your comments and opinions. This stuff doesn’t exist purely for decoration.
There have been lobbyists as long as there have been legislators. The term arose in the United States in the 1830s when representatives of large companies and organizations gathered in the lobby of the US Capitol Building to try to persuade legislators to vote for or against pending legislation. The business has come a long way. Now there are huge firms of professional lobbyists working for and against every issue under the sun.
Of course, the giant megabucks corporations and organizations employ professional lobbyists – oil companies, Wall Street banksters, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Rifle Association. But plenty of organizations working for the public interest do, too – the American Civil Liberties Union, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the AFL-CIO.
The federal Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 contains very strict rules about professional lobbying. All state legislatures also have similar rules. I’ve been lobbying for more than 30 years, at all levels of government. I’ve never given more than a stack of papers and a handshake to any legislator. And not one has ever asked for more.
Lobbyists are no different from members of any other profession. Some are more competent than others. Some are more ethical than others. Some are terrific. Some are swine. Of course we need limits on the gifts that lobbyists can give to legislators. We need a strict definition of and strong punishments for bribery. But we do not need fewer lobbyists. We need more of them.
If the NINETY-NINE PERCENT would do more lobbying, then the lobbyists for the one percent would have less power.
Without lobbyists, we wouldn’t have • Civil Rights Act• Voting Rights Act• drunk driving laws• workplace wage, health, and safety laws• child labor laws
• environmental protection
• safe and healthy food, drugs, air, and water
• social services
• services for military families and veterans
• Social Security
• Consumer protection laws
But we would have
• Slavery
• Legal sweatshops
• Jim Crow Laws
• Many more poor, hungry, homeless, sick, injured, and dead people
Thousands of bills are introduced in Congress every year. Only a few dozen become laws. Nothing moves unless someone pushes it. While you probably won’t be paid for it, you can be a lobbyist, too. There are two simple steps:
• You know what’s important to you. Be familiar with those issues. You don’t have to be an expert. Just follow the news, search online for organizations working on your topic, and then participate with an organization, or more.
• Contact your legislators. Let them know how you feel, and how you want them to vote.
You have every right to contact your legislators as often as you like, about any topic you choose, and it does make a difference. To have even more clout, gather some friends or join an organization and visit your legislators in their district offices.
Since Congress does most of its work through committees, you should know which committees oversee your issues. Committees are very powerful in Congress. The House and Senate websites contain lists of committees and their members.
So if you think our government is on the wrong track, don’t blame the government, or the people who do their part to make it work. Stop watching stupid junk on TV and START LOBBYING.
For More Information
Learn how to lobby your legislators
Why Congress Can’t Get Anything Done. And What You Can Do About It
Guide to the Lobbying Disclosure Act
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