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Analysis Of Lobbyists: Kings Of The Hill

904 Words4 Pages

Samuel Sierzega
10/7/2015
BUSN 118
Lobbyists: Kings of the Hill
The United States ' political system has been abused by years of corruption. This corruption is not hidden by cover ups or even conspiracy theories composed by nuts wearing tin foil hats, it is in plain sight. Corporations, lobbyists and congress have been engaging in a vicious cycle of corruption. Congress has abused their power of public servants by accepting this legal bribery. An amendment to the constitution needs to be added so money can be taken out of politics to provide fair elections to elect congressmen that stand for the people, and not special interest groups.
The National Conference of State Legislation defines lobbying as, “a citizen’s right to speak freely, to impact …show more content…

How they do it is they count all the campaign donations, fundraisers, gifts, concerts, cruises, private golf outings, etc. as ways of “buying access” to the congressman. That way they can say it’s not bribery just buying access to get the chance to lobby their bill/law. Often times the lobbying groups will write the laws themselves in entirety that Senators/Representatives present later to Congress. It is hard to prove a congressman actually voted based on gifts from lobbyists. They can claim they voted based on personal opinion and there was no outside influence.
Lobbying efforts has gone against public option countless times. One example of this is when we had the gun control debates a couple years ago, and according to polls, over 80% of people wanted all background checks before gun show and private purchases (“In Gun Control Debate…”). Organizations like the National Rifle Association spent millions of dollars in lobbying to persuade Congress into voting against their …show more content…

Surprisingly, lobbying is a constitutional right protected by the First Amendment. Thus, it is very hard to ban this historical practice of doing business even though it is obviously corrupt. Another reason lobbying is difficult to stop is many public servants end up working for a lobbying group after their time on the hill. Job offers are a common tactic used by lobbyists to get more influence and trust from congressional staffers. An investigation done by Sunlight Foundation found that from the years 2009-2011, 41% of former congressional staff found their next employment at a lobbying firm (Doctorow) This form of nepotism is creating a “revolving door” keeping corrupt officials involved in our political

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