01-09-2006, 02:55 PM
I am not a registered lobbyist, although I derive a small portion of my income performing similar activities. I also worked for a lobbyist and was a public official.
As long as there are companies and organizations willing to pay lobbyists, there will be lobbyists. Some companies farm out the work and some hire their own. In general, companies or organizations don't want to bother to follow the issues themselves, so the bring in a lobbyist to do it for them.
Unfortunately, it costs so much money to run a political campaign these days, that, unless you are a multimillionaire, you will have to spend much of your time raising money. And therein lies the slippery slope of relying on lobbyists. Well-meaning restrictions on fundraising, the so-called campaign finance "reform," is just making it harder for middle-class people to afford to run for office.
For better or worse, such activity is protected by the First Amendment. Heck, if all of you want to hire me as the Macresource government affairs specialist, I'd be happy to oblige. ;-)
As long as there are companies and organizations willing to pay lobbyists, there will be lobbyists. Some companies farm out the work and some hire their own. In general, companies or organizations don't want to bother to follow the issues themselves, so the bring in a lobbyist to do it for them.
Unfortunately, it costs so much money to run a political campaign these days, that, unless you are a multimillionaire, you will have to spend much of your time raising money. And therein lies the slippery slope of relying on lobbyists. Well-meaning restrictions on fundraising, the so-called campaign finance "reform," is just making it harder for middle-class people to afford to run for office.
For better or worse, such activity is protected by the First Amendment. Heck, if all of you want to hire me as the Macresource government affairs specialist, I'd be happy to oblige. ;-)