Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

The place where the biggest impact money can make on government is lobbying; the strategy of cajoling and essentially bribing legislators to vote a particular way that has little or nothing to do with voter's interests, except perhaps negatively. Lobbyists aren't needed for issues that are obviously good for voters, so if outside influence is needed, that's how you can tell if it's lobbying, and probably suspect. Lobbyists do have to register but what does that do? Lobbyists aren't difficult to identify; they're the ones with air of superiority, sanctimonious smiles, and arrive in a private jet.

There didn't used to be wholesale lobbying, and government ran better than it does today, so outlawing lobbying isn't much of a stretch; lobbying of government officials is already illegal. Elections, which can be similarly exploited, have caps on campaign contributions, so why aren't there at least caps on lobbying? The defense of lobbying is that it's no different than having an attorney represent you, but a lawyer looking out for your best interests doesn’t make it so that everyone else is also serving your best interests. That's an easy private versus public distinction, so why is there still lobbying? Because there are lobbyists who lobby for it.