Please help me to understand lobbyist in the USA

arq

Since i arrived here to the USA i've been hearing about these people calledlobbyist, for me that's really foreign concept, maybe every single country have them and i just noticed them here, but i can't understand how in a democracy these kind of "figures" exist, isn't every elected official by the voters put in that position to help take care the needs of their communities, cities, counties, states, country? why the USA needs people paid by a third party to help them skew the laws and the decisions about the future of the nation?

I know i can just simply google lobbyist and read whatever wiki says about it but i would like to hear about your opinion and if you're against or in favor, and why?

I imagine this has been discussed A LOT here but i wanted to create a thread just about concepts and to keep the discussion focused on the subject.

Thanks

ed243421

a lobbyist is just another spoke in the wheel of corruption that just keeps on turnin'

dimitrispearljam

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=132142&hilit=+lobbyist


they are basically people paid by corporations or special interests to sway politicians into enacting laws in their favor, they get a lot of access while an average member of the voting public gets little if any to their representatives (but we put up with it so....)

the dictionary says

to conduct activities aimed at influencing public officials and especially members of a legislative body on legislationtransitive verb 1 : to promote (as a project) or secure the passage of (as legislation) by influencing public officials
2 : to attempt to influence or sway (as a public official) toward a desired action

wikipedia says

Lobbying (also Lobby) is a form of advocacy with the intention of influencing decisions made by legislators and officials in the government by individuals, other legislators, constituents, or advocacy groups. A lobbyist is a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest or a member of a lobby. Governments often define and regulate organized group lobbying that has become influential on policy.

or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobbying_i ... ted_States
Lobbying in the United States targets the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures. Lobbyists may also represent their clients' or organizations' interests in dealings with federal, state, or local executive branch agencies or the courts. Lobby groups and their members sometimes also write legislation and whip bills. In 2007 there are over 17,000 federal lobbyists based in Washington, DC.

JB273968

Not sure where you are from, but waking up to what "democracy" means in America, perhaps helps to elucidate some of the global frustrations when America tries to (often forcefully) export its style of "democracy" and governance. Democracy in America has always been for the people by the people, its just that the "people" here are often wealthy white man considered solely with maintaining their own status quo. The hypocrisy in this reality is not lost one most Americans. Americans I would imagine do not wish to ignore global warming, alternative energies, the destruction of the Appalachian mountain range, off-shore drilling, equal rights for ALL (which shockingly does still not exist, in a country that fancies itself a global leader), a lessening of the military industrial complex but their voices are drowned out by Lobbyist paid extremely well to force politicians into a postion where they are voting on issues not for their constituents but rather for the people that fill their election coffers to maintain whatever postion they may have.
One need not look further than the health care debate. Even at a point when polls showed that between 60%-70% of all Americans wanted health care reform (which by my limited knowledge is far more than a democratic majority) their where still more than half of the politicians elected by these same people fighting against it. This showing the power of a lobby. Even when the people want something if a particular lobbyist group does not (in this case insurance companies) it will not happen.
Few politicians have the balls or political will to truly follow the will of their constituents. From a career perspective acting in this way is simply not tenable.

Jeanwah

Without giving a long drawn explanation, Lobbyists are simply special interest groups (corporations, industries, any group or business with a lot of money, really) that bribe politicians to bend the rules or make laws that benefit them.

Politicians will never benefit the People, as long as lobbying is permitted by law. Because there are so many lobbyists manipulating our politicians, there's little chance the politicians we vote in democratically actually do anything they promise to the People.

I honestly wonder how people who work as lobbyists sleep at night, with the guilty consciences they must have. Or they may simply might not have a conscience. How could they, really, with what they do for a living?

Big Oil and King Coal, for instance practically OWN Washington; with the huge amounts of money their lobbyists pay politicians to not enforce regulatory laws consisting of safety, emissions,etc rules, they can cause dangerous outcomes. Like BP's oil spill. As long as BP's lobbyists continue paying the Obama administration lots of money, the more likely BP will get away with only a "slap on the wrist".

badbrains

It's like a perfect circle. Tax payers pay taxes, taxes get paid to countries (say Israel) who then give loobyists a ton of cash. Then that gets trickled back to the senators or congressmen. Perfect circle for all but the common man....