Other critics are concerned that lobbying reform will negatively impact special-interest groups that lack large amounts of capital, while lobbyists representing financially powerful groups will be unaffected. Some reform legislation contains restrictions that make it difficult for nonprofit or public-service groups to employ lobbyists while maintaining their nonprofit status. Financially dominant groups, however, would be able to hire part-time lobbyists and thereby avoid the registration restrictions.

The high-profile case called the behavior of prominent legislators into question and led to increasing concern about corruption.

The majority of professional lobbyists were employed by the shipping, merchant, and agriculture industries. The public perception was that lobbyists were a tool of financially powerful organizations, which led to increased suspicion of corruptio

Unsatisfied with the efficiency of this method, some groups began to employ individuals to visit Washington, DC, and communicate their wishes to Congress

earmarks

This loss in confidence is not limited to a single party or ideology; rather, it cuts across the spectrum.  It is a perception bred by recent Congressional failures and scandals, which I need not chronicle here.

Mr. President, today I am pleased to be joined by Senators Feingold, Collins, and Lieberman in introducing a bill to provide greater transparency into the process of influencing our government, and to ensure greater accountability among public officials.

t would require greater disclosure of lobbyists’ contributions and payments to lawmakers and entities associated with them, as well as fundraising and other events they host

senior congressional staff

Members and staff would also have to post the details of their privately-sponsored work trips on-line for public inspection.

About two-thirds (67.8%) of released prisoners were arrested for a new crime within 3 years, and three-quarters (76.6%) were arrested within 5 years.

President Obama created new lobbying rules that placed restrictions on his staff’s ability to lobby the White House after leaving employment and prevented aides from working on matters they had lobbied on prior to coming to the White House. The new rules also prevent aides from approaching agencies that were the target of their prior lobbying efforts, and prohibit lobbyists from giving gifts to any member of the Obama administration.

Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act (2 U.S.C.A. §§ 261, 261 note, 262–270 [1946]).

Unlike voters, who each get one vote, lobbyists vary in their degree of influence.

lobbying provides a forum for the resolution of conflicts among often diverse and competing points of view; provides information, analysis, and opinion to legislators and government leaders to allow for informed and balanced decision making; and creates a system of checks and balances that allows for competition among interest groups, keeping any one group from attaining a permanent position of power. Lobbyists can help the legislative process work more effectively by providing lawmakers with reliable data and accurate assessments of a bill’s effect.

The day after the midterm elections, CNN reported that, according to national exit polls, voters were concerned about corruption and ethics in government more than any other issue.

The bill would prohibit all gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers and their staff

evolving door

As companies became more politically active and comfortable during the late 1980s and the 1990s, their lobbyists became more politically visionary. For example, pharmaceutical companies had long opposed the idea of government adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, on the theory that this would give government bargaining power through bulk purchasing, thereby reducing drug industry profits. But sometime around 2000, industry lobbyists dreamed up the bold idea of proposing and supporting what became Medicare Part D—a prescription drug benefit, but one which explicitly forbade bulk purchasing—an estimated $205 billion benefit to companies over a 10-year period.

Many began by hiring their first lobbyists. And they started winning. They killed a major labor law reform, rolled back regulation, lowered their taxes, and helped to move public opinion in favor of less government intervention in the economy.

rather than trying to keep government out of its business (as they did for a long time), companies are now increasingly bringing government in as a partner

Things are quite different today. The evolution of business lobbying from a sparse reactive force into a ubiquitous and increasingly proactive one is among the most important transformations in American politics over the last 40 years

One has to go back to the Gilded Age to find business in such a dominant political position in American politics