Lobbying

tudelo

Well you see, money = speech. And you propose to limit that??? Preposterous!

asxndu

I am of the perspective that it's usually politician's extorting business people. Kind of like, "If you don't bribe us, we shall pass laws that hurt you." Business people just want to run their businesses. Politicians however depend on strife. Which explains why, no matter the politician, nothing ever changes. If you are to classify business people & politicians in an ecological sense. - Business people would be symbiotes - Politicians are parasites

emaro

Lobbying is hardly uniquely (US) american, right? At least in Europe, we have our fair share and I'm sure it exists in Africa and Asia as well.

transitorykris

Are the bribes better in other countries because they don't have a funny euphemism and carried out loosely in public?

hypersoar

While the courts have allowed the influence of money in politics to go much too far, I doubt that the idea of rich people and businesses using their wealth to influence politicians is all that alien to non-Americans. Also, bribery isn't really "super illegal" in America. Cases like McDonnell vs. US make it so that as long as you don't go "Thank you for the bag of money, which I hereby accept in exchange for granting you, in my official capacity, that government contract you wanted, which you would not have gotten otherwise," you're pretty much in the clear.

asdfaoeu

Lobbying is definitely not an exclusive American thing. Lobbying is also different to bribery even if some bribery is done under the label of lobbying.

matteoraso

This is very lazy slopulism, but I'll take a stab at defending lobbying. Lobbying is a way for relevant stakeholders to make their issues known. Are there problems with lobbying? Absolutely, but it's not bribery.

alexrp

This framing is weird; this kind of lobbying through campaign/party donations happens almost anywhere that elections are a thing.

Canada

In what democracy is the government and the opposition not completely owned by lobbyist money these days?

georgemcbay

I agree with the absurdity of it all, but also we're already so far beyond garden variety Citizens United-enabled SuperPAC bribery at this point and things just keep getting increasingly corrupt. The President of the United States routinely pardons people of federal criminal charges in exchange for large sums of money. He does it right out in the open. There are credible reasons to believe the administration will attempt to nullify the results of the upcoming midterm elections if they go as badly for the Republicans as it seems they will, and who knows what the hell will happen in 2028.

cmdli

I know this post is mainly about money in politics, but lobbying does go a lot farther than campaign contributions. Many lobbying groups are arranged around certain political groups, like environmentalism (Sierra Club), civil liberties (ACLU), or gun rights (NRA). "Lobbying" is a generic term for influencing a politician, and it existed well before Citizens United. Hell, corporate influence in politics also existed long before Citizens United, too.

osti

I think in Canada lobbying is much more limited, so it's probably not due to democracy that we get lobbying.

blfr

I am a non-American from Poland and have no trouble understanding lobbying along with the distinction between lobbying and outright bribery or more systemic corruption. Also, a lot of lobbying happens without money changing hands. Politicians need professional bodies and local communites for a variety of reasons. From staging campaign stops through having experts to maintain a semblance of merit all the way to filling goverment positions and actually exercising power once they win elections. Thus these various groups gain influence.

thelastgallon

> Bribery is super illegal in America. Not anymore! Just change the order! Supreme Court Rules Bribes are Fine if You’re Paid Later: https://afj.org/article/supreme-court-rules-bribes-are-fine-...

thatslast

How does lobbying work in Asia ?

davesque

Does any American actually think this way about lobbying?

rdm_blackhole

This is a very poorly researched article, as if lobbying was an American thing when it is something that happens all over the world especially in Europe. Did you know there are 30000++ lobbyists in Brussels? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/08/lobbyists-euro... That's 40 lobbyists for every EU parliament member. Finally, lobbying is not a bad thing per se. Take the Chat Control issue that the EU has been pushing down the throat of its citizens for the last 5 years, the worst aspects of it have been watered down (slightly) because of citizens lobbying their MPs to defend their privacy rights. Everyone can become a lobby and make their voices heard and that is how it's supposed to work.

iambateman

(IANALobbyist but I do work for a lobbying firm) Lobbying is how businesses talk to government. And I get that that sounds nasty—and sometimes it is nasty—-but it’s necessary. Most of us work for businesses and when a rule comes out that legitimately threatens your business, you want to be able to tell the government in realtime. Remember the rule change to the amortization of software expenses, which inadvertently would have killed thousands of software companies? Well, a big push from businesses got the rule amended and eventually removed, which is better for everyone. That’s lobbying. Many businesses and local governments hire people who specialize in that work due to the sheer volume (America has a lot of layers of government). I understand why the profession has such a bad reputation. When we think of a “lobbyist” we think of Big Tobacco or Big Tax Prep Software…companies who are trying to preserve their position by paying off the right people. But for every one of those, there are a hundred companies trying to make sure the law doesn’t screw then over and a hundred local communities trying to convince their state capitol to fund their schools and parks and bridges.

vconnor

I am amazed at how many people in here are ready to defend lobbying. Are you prepared to go as far as to say that lobbying is necessary for good government?

utopcell

> No no no that can’t be a bribe you see, that happens after the laws were passed, a bribe would have to be before. That's how you can tell that lobbying is different from prostitution. In the latter, money exchange is illegal both before and after the act.