What should/can we as US citizens do to stop lobbying which is basically legalized bribery?

2019-08-09T10:21:01-04:00

I would like to hear the thoughts and opinions from my RP family.

Response by PFC Donnie Harold Harris made Aug 9 at 2019 10:27 AM

2019-08-09T10:27:05-04:00

Beat them at there own game with a different strategy.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 9 at 2019 10:27 AM

2019-08-09T10:27:43-04:00

Lobbying to advocate for this issue or that policy is as American as apple pie, and indeed is what our Representatives should do, meeting with constituents.
The problem lies in the money, especially in self-licking ice cream cones like Civil Servant unions and defense contractors.
The problem you have is a Supreme Court decision that says that corporate and individual campaign contributions are 1st Amendment protected speech. Direct bribery is a crime. Indirect bribery however... not so much.
While we are at it, we need to look at Congressional Insider Trading as a crime, which they have a specific statutory exemption for. It is not a coincidence that getting elected to Congress means becoming wealthy, even though the pay itself won't get you there. These two items are largely the reason why.

Response by Cpl Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 9 at 2019 10:32 AM

2019-08-09T10:32:09-04:00

Term limits! Career politicians have been there too long while passing laws that give them special privileges and immunites. They've been there long enough to develop too many closed-door, interpersonal relationships with the lobbyists/special interest groups.

Response by LCDR Joshua Gillespie made Aug 9 at 2019 10:35 AM

2019-08-09T10:35:58-04:00

Hard to improve on 1SG Healy's comments. Bottom line-our representatives not only should, but MUST listen to the petitions of their constituents. If the model for representative government was to elect someone based on their "platform", then let them do whatever they felt was right for the length of their term(s)...decades in the case of some of these folks; what we have then is oligarchy. The issue is, as always, the Benjamins...and what's being "bought".

Response by MSG Stan Hutchison made Aug 9 at 2019 10:54 AM

2019-08-09T10:54:22-04:00

3 words:
Campaign Finance Reform!

Response by Maj Kevin "Mac" McLaughlin made Aug 9 at 2019 11:15 AM

2019-08-09T11:15:27-04:00

First one would have to answer, how do we help enable the common citizen, who is incapable of donating large amounts of money or gaining access to legislators, to address or highlight their concerns?

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Aug 9 at 2019 11:29 AM

2019-08-09T11:29:39-04:00

The fact that neither party really is pushing hard for lobbying reform tells you most of what you need to know. They like being winded and dined and are not motivated to stop it. They also line up nice careers once they leave congress. It will take a major change in Congress (like term limits) before it gets addressed.

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 9 at 2019 11:36 AM

2019-08-09T11:36:03-04:00

My answer to everything political, anything that even barely smells of politics is prominently found in an old quote, attributed to Marines and printed on t-shirts and bumper stickers many years ago: it says... "We kill them all and let God sort them out." It has come to that. Washington is both the armpit and the cesspool of America.

Response by SSgt GG-15 RET Jim Lint made Aug 9 at 2019 11:44 AM

2019-08-09T11:44:39-04:00

What about lobbies that get support for you like VFW, Am Legion, AUSA,and others who try to tell the story of the military. There are good and bad lobbies. Remember the new GI Bill....that was because of the successful lobby work of American Legion and other vet groups. The way to stop the lobbies, might be to reject their support. You could give your GI Bill to someone else...or just not use it so that no one in your family will benefit from it.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 9 at 2019 12:38 PM

2019-08-09T12:38:50-04:00

Unless you can get a party that opposes lobbying and they take control of both houses and pass legislation against lobbyist, I am not sure what you can do. Both current party members benefit from lobbyist.

Response by MSgt Steve Sweeney made Aug 9 at 2019 12:52 PM

2019-08-09T12:52:34-04:00

I don;t know about stopping lobbying entirely... if that is even possible, and you are likely to run afoul of the 1st Amendment. I understand the concern though.

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Response by SCPO Jason McLaughlin made Aug 9 at 2019 1:33 PM

2019-08-09T13:33:06-04:00

Jay Bulworth had the answer....

Response by SFC Casey O'Mally made Aug 9 at 2019 1:41 PM

2019-08-09T13:41:30-04:00

I would love to see money out of politics entirely. Like no such thing as campaign donations. Each qualified candidate (filed, gotten requisite signatures, etc.) gets an equal pot of money, on a month-by-month basis. They have to submit expense reports, etc. The pot is very small.
Ad time would be donated by stations, who would be required to give equal time and slotting (no running a half hour straight of 3-3:30 am of a Democrat, so that you can run 60 prime time 30 second ads of a Republican, fox news). Cooperating stations could be paid, or provided a tax incentive.

This WOULD cost taxpayers more. But the flip side is that there is no longer any need to donate to campaigns, or to shady lobbyists. Some lobbying should and could still happen - the type that doesn't involve money, but does involve special interests. To include ACLU, NAACP, NRA, VFW, UAW, to name a few (nd a host of others). The difference is that these lobbyists will no longer have the power of campaign contributions, but ONLY the power of a bunch of people speaking with one designated voice.

This plan would also give a much better shot to poorer candidates with fewer inside connections. When you have the same amount of money, the playing field is much more level (things like name recognition still matter, and incumbents, local heroes, and celebrities will still have an advantage). When the political playing field is level, your message becomes MUCH more important.

It could work. But it will never happen. Too many powerful people LIKE all of the money in politics. We would have to get rid of them. And the only way to do that, is by getting enough money to beat them at their game - but whoever you replace them with will have gotten elwcted by the same tactics, and will lokely want to keep the rules that got them elected, just like the current politicians.

Response by MSG Stan Hutchison made Aug 9 at 2019 1:52 PM

2019-08-09T13:52:13-04:00

Perhaps we should start with getting rid of 4 big ones in Trump's Cabinet.
Lobbyists in Trump Cabinet

EPA:
Andrew Wheeler - Coal and oil
From 2009 until 2017, Wheeler was a lobbyist in the law firm Faegre Baker Daniels' energy and natural resources practice.[18][19] Since 2009, he represented the coal producer Murray Energy,[20] privately owned by Robert E. Murray, a supporter of President Trump.[21] Murray Energy was Wheeler's best-paying client, paying more than $300,000 during the period 2009-2017.[3] Wheeler lobbied against the Obama administration's climate regulations for power plants and also sought to persuade the Energy Department to subsidize coal plants.[2] Wheeler set up a meeting between Murray and Energy Secretary Rick Perry in March 2017; at the meeting, Murray advocated for the rollback of environmental regulations and for protections for the coal industry

DoD
Mark Esper - Military contractors
He was vice president of government relations at Raytheon, a major U.S. defense contractor. During his time at Raytheon, Esper was recognized as a top corporate lobbyist by The Hill in 2015 and in 2016.

Interior
David Bernhardt - Oil, coal, ad chemical companies
in the 1990s working for Scott McInnis (R-CO) before taking a position in the Washington lobbying shop of Brownstein, Hyatt and Farber, where he lobbied on behalf of oil and chemical companies.
In 2009, Bernhardt returned to Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP, and became the head of its natural resources lobbying shop, where his clients included oil, gas, and mining companies.

Health
Alex Azar - Big Pharma
June 2007, Azar was hired by Eli Lilly and Company chief executive officer Sidney Taurel to be the company's top lobbyist
He resigned from Lilly to take the Cabinet position in 2017 after rising up through the company.

If Trump really wanted to "drain the swamp" he should start in his own backyard.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 9 at 2019 1:54 PM

2019-08-09T13:54:19-04:00

Make it illegal to accept any form of compensation for lobbing. Basically the only lobbing that would be legal would be from volunteers that are independently wealthy enough to support themselves during their lobbing activities.

Response by MCPO Roger Collins made Aug 9 at 2019 2:06 PM

2019-08-09T14:06:06-04:00

Change the Constitution. Not being a smart ass, I would like an end to this practice. A Constitutional Convention would open a big can of worms.

“In addition, the Constitution sought to protect other freedoms, such as free speech. Accordingly, the ability of individuals, groups, and corporations to lobby the government is protected by the right to petition in the First Amendment.”

“Which part of the First Amendment guarantees the right of a citizen to lobby?
The text of the First Amendment reads, ” Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Aug 9 at 2019 5:19 PM

2019-08-09T17:19:18-04:00

"Legalized bribery" is a gross oversimplification and misunderstanding of what lobbying is.

We the People have the absolute (Protected) Right to communicate with our government.

This is a Right that can be exercised individually or collectively.

For every bad actor, whether politician or donor, there are countless good actor examples. Restricting speech is not going to correct the problem. It is just going to drive it further underground.

Response by MAJ James Woods made Aug 9 at 2019 5:50 PM

2019-08-09T17:50:28-04:00

Lobbying is fine. It’s the massive amount of money given to politicians as political contributions creating a quid pro quo relationship is the problem. Limit the amount to a few thousand and the number of times a lobbyist or the organization they represent can contribute would be a start.
For me lobbyist should be treated like car salesmen, convince what you’re selling is good for me and my constituents. When was last time a salesman gave you money to buy take their product and resale it someone else and it wasn’t a scam? That’s just my opinion.

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 9 at 2019 8:16 PM

2019-08-09T20:16:18-04:00

Vote for every elected official in every seat, school board and on up. We only care for the Rep or Dem....what about the other parties? Do we only care for Harambe for our vote? It doesn't do anything. We inform the policies we want and actions to take, find that candidate that follows this and vote for them. Also, we the people, need to stop being narrow-minded to single sided debates of left or right side politics without regard for compromise.
To stop lobbying? Maybe it's illegal for any company or agency to fund a party and receive anything at all back. Better chance of a third party winning the presidency race.

Response by SPC Martin Kamm made Aug 10 at 2019 3:17 PM

2019-08-10T15:17:04-04:00

Since the bribery in question is generally given under the cover of "Re-election campaign contributions," the most obvious recourse available to the people is to re-elect NO ONE to Congress. Someone is elected to service, serves their country for 2 or 6 years, and then returns to private life. I, for one, am unwilling to hold my breath waiting for Congress to impose limits on itself regarding either the length of their tenure or how lucrative that tenure can be to them personally.