Why go after lobbyists? Why not after lawmakers and government

[question everything]

officials who take gifts from lobbyists and then blindly follow their "suggestions?"

I think that we can agree that there is room for lobbyists to educate lawmakers. After all, even the Sierra Club has one.

I think that we can agree that it is humanly impossible for anyone to be well knowledgeable on every single subject. My conclusion is that there is nothing wrong with listening to lobbyists who offer their point of view on the issue.

But we should also expect the lawmakers and government officials to weight also the opposing view and then to make a decision based on their reasoning.

Barring lobbyists from approaching lawmakers, from, yes, even taking them to lunch, is a very poor commentary on the honesty and ethics of our members of Congress and of the administration.

I don't know if anyone mentioned the funny segment from the Daily Show the other day, where Samantha Bee interviewed a Congressman - don't remember his name - who would bar lobbyists from paying people to stand in line to enter a committee room.

She ended up getting Kucinich buying a sandwich (or was it a taco?) for her in the cafeteria. And he got her order wrong...

[mmonk]

1. I've been trying to do what you suggest for over a year now.

THEY PROTECT THEIR OWN. Get rid of the lobbyists and you get rid of the temptation. I have come to this view after running into all the brick walls.

[Bobbieo]

2. This can happen when agency and dept heads

are appointed on the basis of job experience not on how much the individual has contributed to the president's campaign fund.

[mmonk]

3. and when they are not looking for a job as a lobbyist

when their government career is over. To earn that golden parachute job, they have to do things for the partcular entity they want to be in good graces with while they are in office or their agency job.