Okay, so it's a new year and I'm changing my blog policies ever so slightly. I'm now going to comment on politics (and possibly also religion), but only in the most general contexts. I shall try to leave specific personalities out of this. (Okay, so I've been doing this all along.) But this passing scene is just too rich to let it alone. And I don't have to mention any names here for everyone to know what has set me off.
So how does this lobbying business work? Let us say you have a political cause or issue before congress (or some other government entity). So you raise some money and you hire somebody with known political contacts and influence to make your views known to your congressman (or any congressman who might be helpful and could be persuaded to back your views). You pay this lobbyist to get the job done. What is the job? To persuade as many lawmakers as possible to back your position. Now what is the best way to get in good with a congressman? Well, maybe you take him out to dinner. Or maybe you give him some free tickets to a football or basketball game. Or maybe you pay his airfare to go play golf in Scotland. And you make sure your lawmaker knows who is paying for all this.
So far so good. Who can object to a few small gestures to get a lawmaker's attention. And what lawmaker would be persuaded to sell a vote for such small gestures? But let us now further suppose that our lobbyist points out that the people he represents are really strong supporters of this congressman, and are willing to put their money behind these small gestures of support by contributing to the congressman's campaign (or political action committee)? Now why would otherwise sensible individuals be contributing their money to someone whom they did not believe shared their views? But if their lawmaker already shares their views, why don't they just contribute directly to the campaign? Why do they need the lobbyist?
I suggest that the sole purpose of hiring a lobbyist is to make it clear to the lawmaker that there is a direct connection between this more or less substantial campaign contribution (and all those other small gifts and gestures) and the lawmaker's vote on specific issues of interest to the lobbyist's client. And how would this differ from bribery?
Well, let that alone for now. So who are these lobbyists and how can we be sure they will get the job done? It turns out that most lobbyists are either former lawmakers, or the staff of former lawmakers, or family members related to current and former lawmakers. It's a cozy group. No wonder they like to eat meals together and play golf, especially when it's all at the expense of clients.
But again I ask, why do we need these lobbyists? Can't we just make an appointment and visit our lawmakers and give them our views? Can't we just write them letters or send them emails. Well, yes, we could do that. But how much more effective would it be if we had someone already known to our lawmaker who could introduce us and help us explain our situation and what we need to get done, someone who can help us cut through all that government red tape. Let us suppose that some stranger comes to see a lawmaker to ask for help on some matter before congress, explains that he or she is a big supporter of the lawmaker, and asks the lawmaker to cast a vote that would be favorable to his or her interests. This might work. But again how much more effective would it be to have someone already known to our lawmaker, a former colleague perhaps, come along with us or set up an informal meeting at some nice restaurant, so we can explain the way things are and point out (by the way) that we can also raise a lot more money for the lawmaker's next campaign if things go well.
Now which approach is more likely to be successful? You see why there are no former politicians? When you're in office you get people to give you money to run for office. And when you're not in office you get people to give you money to run for office, or (even better) you get people to give you even more money to give to those who are in office or running for office. You can also find quite a lot of similar employment for your friends and relatives. Any way you look at it, it's all about money. Not that a lawmaker would ever change his views or his vote based on the amount of money someone contributes to his campaign. You see these poor suckers give them all this money just because . . . . Wait a minute. Now why would anyone give these lobbyists and lawmakers all this money if they didn't think they would get anything in return? How well would that work?
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