Lobby

Tuesday January 3, 2006 - 3:11PM EDT

When I first learned how congressional lobbying about worked 7 years ago I was puzzled. Mainly because at first glance it seemed so freaking wrong but was the accepted practice. You pay a lobbyist to talk to and influence memebers of congress. It is kind of like putting in a middleman in bribery to make it legal. I guess the idea was that this buffer of a lobbyist would make things fine and not cause problems. But you are still paying for influence regardless of whateer buffer is in the middle. It should be illegal to pay to have the ear of a congressman. But this has been the accepted practice for decades and it is disgusting. I just don't understand how this became part of how congress works. Lobbying is such a sinister business. Your paying someone to influence laws in your favor. That is horrible and will lead to so many problems. This is why I am kind of puzzled at the current outrage over the Abramoff scandal. Republicans are saying that it is a witch hunt or something and that nothing illegal was done. I'd tend to agree with them on the nothing illegal was done. People have been paying lobbyists to influence congress men for decades why the sudden outrage. The rage should have come decades ago when the practice of lobbying became so common. So common that a major credit card company can pay lobbyists to get the supreme court to overturn laws to help only their business (MBNA).