Lobbyists are necessary

Lobbyists and special interests are necessary in the United States. I know you’re thinking that my week off has resulted in my turning to the dark side. After all, haven’t politicians and activists of every stripe been denouncing the evil influence of special interests for decades? Doesn’t every candidate for every office pledge that lobbyists are persona non grata if you would elect them to office? Aren’t we all aware that if special interests weren’t involved with government, then many more beneficial programs could be funded properly? If it weren’t for evil lobbyists so the sentiment assumes, then our elected representatives would not succumb to temptation.


So what is a special interest that is represented by a lobbyist (or legislative liaison, government affairs representative, or legislative director)? A special interest is a group, industry, or trade association that shares a common concern. If you’re a Methodist, Jew, Catholic, or Pentecostal, you belong to a special interest. Perhaps you operate a small business, farm, non-profit service agency, foundry or tax preparation service, and then you are part of a special interest. If you want to save the spotted owl or if you are an hourly logger, then you have special interests that may compete with one another. As long are there are two or more people who are reliant on certain outcomes, then there will be competing special interests. In a pluralistic society like the United States with 300 million residents the cacophony of interests can, at times, be deafening. Yielding to various interests is much easier in a homogeneous nation where many beliefs, desires and goals are shared. When one examines any legislative measure in the U.S., one is aware that “garbage in/garbage out” is not the sole province of the digital world.

The current method of legislating has the distinctive aroma of a road kill skunk…only with more lingering effects. As a prime example let’s look at property taxes. I chose them because they are primarily a local factor. There are many categories of property within any given locale: federal lands, state lands, church property, non-profit agency property, commercial (heavy, light, retail), multiunit-housing, single-family, blended, agricultural (CAUV), and on and on. Each type is uniquely taxed or exempted with variations from community to community. The various interests that are represented by their property concerns are numerous, and each group or interest seeks to minimize the impact of tax policy. Multiply this contention by fifty states or thousands of communities across the nation, and you can perceive why professional lobbyists may be necessary to protect the interests of the multiple groups. Now, compound that by a federal tax code that exceeds forty thousand pages (40,000) or literally thousands of state and federal agencies, bureaus and departments that promulgate rules, regulations and directives from thousands of vaguely written laws, resolutions and ordinances. Given a pluralistic nation of 300 million persons, it is logical to assume that EVERY governmental action has a positive effect for some citizens or groups and a negative or neutral impact for the others. To navigate this maze of law and rulemaking requires a commitment of time and a level of expertise beyond that possessed by the average citizen (unless you’re a hefty campaign contributor). Lobbyists are necessary. Bottom line in the lobby game: Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you. The government always gets the remains.

My twisted imagination came up with the following fictional example of the process:

Bureaucrat A: Last year four people were severely injured when they fell off the top step of a stepladder.

Bureaucrat B: What don’t we mandate a restraining bar at the top of every ladder?

A: Won’t work ‘cuz the idiots will step over the bar.

B: Maybe we could require that the top step be electrified so that they can’t stand on it.

A: Hmmmm…might work. It would cost about $53.00 per ladder, so it just might work.

Lobbyist: Wait a minute. $53.00 per ladder. No way! How about we place a sticker on every ladder warning them of the danger? Works for cigarettes, and we can do it for $3.50 per ladder.

A: The sticker would have to be bilingual.

Lobbyist: OK, that’s $3.75 per ladder.

B: What about the illiterates and the Chinese speaking people?

A: We have no regulations for those circumstances.

It’s stupid, I know, but not completely far-fetched. In this theoretical example, the lobbyist saved more than $49.00 per ladder. How many ladders were sold because the price did not jump an additional forty-nine dollars? How many ladder building jobs were created or saved because of the timely intervention by that astute ladder lobbyist? Don’t forget the new jobs that were created by the safety sticker maker. Oh, by the way, after the sticker requirement was implemented, a similar number of people were injured because of their failure to heed the warning. Of course, they were probably illiterate or Chinese.

How do we stop the battle among various competing interests and the resultant maze of rules and regulations? Simple…reduce the size and scope of government. To do so would mean that we must take more personal responsibility. If you were to fall off the top step of the stepladder, then you should not sue the ladder company because of your stupidity. Support and vote for candidates who are committed to reducing the size of government (and by extension, taxes). The simpler the system is, the less necessary it is for special interests to intervene. So yes, lobbyists are necessary in the present environment, but if we have the courage and the will to reduce government to a reasonable manageable size, then we could encourage many lobbyists to get real jobs.

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