The Problem of Lobbyists

There should be limits on the contributions to political campaigns by individuals. For example, all it would take for a candidate to have overwhelming exposure is for a few billionaires to donate a massive windfall to a campaign. This would trump the donations of millions of common citizens. For this reason alone, campaign contributions should be limited per individual.

However, I think the limit should be raised to a large enough amount to allow the affluent to make their voices heard. They could raise the limit to $50,000 per individual instead of a couple of thousand. This would balance out the demographic representation, as the wealthy are in the minority. However, if a poor person wants to sell their house and donate as much they are welcome to.

Yet, it remains to be seen whether fat budgets will have the same impact they used to. Now information can travel at the speed of the Internet and for virtually nothing if the message becomes viral. Corrupt candidates can spend as much as they like on their campaigns but people are becoming more savvy and they may not be as swayed as they once were by the old corrupt legacy media outlets such as television stations and newspapers.

Lobbyists should not have access to elected officials and elected officials should not have access to lobbyists. One way to prevent these activities is to impose harsh laws against them. Only by a politician or a lobbyist facing a minimum of 5 years in jail will the drive to corrupt the public trust in government subside.

Lobbyists don't have the American people's interests at heart. The only thing they are concerned about is their own groups self interest. Politicians were voted in by the people and should not be primarily focused on lobbyists concerns. Lobbyists and politicians should be watched more closely and be followed in their voting records. Only through transparency can the people know who these power's loyalties are to.

Here are some of the affects that lobbying and corrupt politicians have on society:

1. Environmental degradation: Profit is more important than the health of people and that of the land they live on.

2. Unnecessary wars: Wars are fought due to powerful influence of religious fanatics and for the profit of the military-industrial complex.

3. Pork Barrel Spending: Special interests get access to billions of dollars of the tax payers hard earned money.

4. Bribery: Instead of making policy based on what is good for the people some politicians are bribed by lobbyists into supporting unnecessary legislation.