Feb. 17, 2006

War of the Words: Lobbying Congress

By KATIE SCHWENDEMAN
kjs001@marietta.edu

Let's pretend that you're sitting on your back porch one day, and all of a sudden, a semi-truck backs into your yard and dumps gallons of toxic waste all over your neatly trimmed hedges. It then seeps into your perfectly planted flowers and trickles down into the soil, slowly eroding away your backyard environment with each drop. Now let's pretend that you're scared for your well-being, your health, and the overall environment as a whole. But for those of you who could care less about the environment, we can just pretend you're scared for your health. (Don't worry, I won't come to your house and wrap my arms around a big tree.)

Anyway, wouldn't it be nice to be able to call someone up and say, “Hey, my backyard is full of toxic waste and I'm worried about the effect it will have on my life.” This person could then say, “You know, that's a real problem. I'm going to go talk to some people in Congress for you about that.” The person you call is a lobbyist, and their job is to lobby.

Lobbying is when a person with political credentials appeals to Congress about your issue on your behalf. In order to lobby, you must first have a group with an issue, and then you must hire a lobbyist. Last time I checked, they don’t do it for free...sorry.

Most groups that lobby in Congress are called Political Advocacy Groups, and they cover a wide range of issues; from animal rights, to media, to land resources and multi-ethnic Americans.

Obviously, lobbying covers a wide spectrum. While it can be said that lobbying poses a problem because it opens the door to “useless” lobbying issues (which can be true in some cases), the amount of Political Advocacy Groups that are detrimental to the well-being of the American society should override these. Therefore, in a democratic nation such as America, I feel that lobbying is vital to the survival of the everyday citizen. It's a way of sticking it out for the “little woman” (or man...).

For a complete list of Political Advocacy groups and information, visit: http://www.csuchico.edu/~kcfount/

By JAKOB KANE LOUKAS
jkl001@marietta.edu

Only a few professions have reputations of being soulless, blood-sucking creatures reminiscent of the chupacabra.  Among them are lawyers, agents, and lobbyists.  Not all lobbyists, however, scurry around the Mexican desert maiming cattle; some are in Washington, DC, and others are in Ireland on drinking binges with U.S. Senators.

The Onion recently reported that Bush created a cabinet level position just to coordinate scandals, and I assure you that The Onion is as reliable as the Daily Show. There is clearly a problem with corruption in the capital. Infamous Abramoff probably isn’t even the most loathsome lobbyist, just the one stupid enough to get caught.  Bribery, favors, and deceit are part of our political process.  Until the Senate Ethics Committee gets morals or the citizens of this nation decide that they really want change, Washington will stay corrupt.
I say we go back to the days when a lobbyist didn’t have to funnel laundered money to political campaigns.  He only had to take a senator to a bar and buy him drinks until he agreed to support anything.  I hear they still do it that way in England; why not here?