Regional
Regional Op-Ed | David Briceno: Are Lobbyists Good for Democracy?
Author: David Briceno, Grass Valley, CA
Published on Jul 13, 2009 - 6:52:45 AM

American democracy means many things: free elections; a free press; freedom of political association; freedom of religion, thought and speech; equality before the law; the right to oppose the government; the right to choose one's job; the right to form free trade unions; the right to move freely within America, go abroad temporarily or emigrate permanently; and so on and so forth.

But there's another definition of democracy that exists, one that paints a more accurate picture of the American political system as it exists today. It involves lobbying.

Lobbying mainly means the process of influencing the decisions of government by interest groups and individuals. But that textbook definition, while accurate, doesn't tell much about the effects of lobbying on American democracy. Lobbying has substantially altered democracy in dramatic ways. Americans may possess the facade of democracy, but not genuine democracy. For instance, take information.

Lobbyists provide as their basic function information, supplying fact-filled arguments for government decision making. As manipulators, lobbyists mostly supply biased information to government, information favorable to the cause of those business interests who stand to profit or not lose money by their lobbying on particular bills in Congress.

Corporations don't shell out money to think tanks, politicians and lobbyists that don't support the corporation's interests, who have political advantage over other interest groups and organizations, such as smaller businesses. Resulting biased information yields biased government decision making usually in favor of the corporation. In American democracy, where freedom of information reigns, special interests who manipulate information for their cause are mostly inimical to the democratic process. For the roughly 15,000 actively registered lobbyists in Washington, D.C. today (listed by the Senate Office of Public Records), lobbying constitutes a business of manipulation. How?

The over 2,500 lobbying groups that have their headquarters in the nation's capital manipulate public opinion by rallying grassroots support by getting constituents to call, email or write letters to legislators; manipulate public relations and advertising campaigns; and use propaganda to get their message across through the media.

Also, the political system listens more to those with a lot of money. What has happened has been that without major resources, time, status and expertise, the average citizen has been mostly locked out of the governmental process. The price of democracy has become too expensive for the average American to afford. Democracy suffers as a result. America has in effect become a two-tier country where business interests dominate the political process and where regular citizens hardly affect the government.

Money talks. Money buys ideas, influence and access to power in American politics. Money means power: Those with more money are those with more influence. In 1998 lobbyists spent $1.44 billion to influence government. And ten years later, in 2008, $3.27 billion was reportedly spent, according to the Center of Responsive Politics, to lobby Congress. That's a lot of money for influence peddling. But shelling out a few million can save a company from having to pay millions, if not billions, in the long run, should detrimental legislation pass. The price tag seems to climb when it comes to lobbying. Oil and gas companies spent $44.5 million lobbying Congress and federal agencies in the first quarter of this year - more than a third of the $129 million they spent in all of 2008, which in itself was a 73 percent increase from two years before, according to syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington.

In any event, the word "democracy" means rule by the people, NOT rule solely by corporations and money. Why shouldn't corporations rule America? Wealthy corporations have interests that are often not in the best interests of the people, nor for the public good. Many times, through their lobbyists, business enterprises strenuously work to defeat adverse bills and work to support bills that give their corporations more money, power and freedom. Their mission has become to identify any reform bill and destroy it, like health care reform, energy reform, and Wall Street reform. After all, lobbyists wish to win for their clients' interests - the motivation being for their own monetary interests.

Of course, there's nothing illegal in this since interest groups derive their right to lobby from the Constitution. In fact, by its very definition, lobbying means trying to influence the votes of legislators by persuading them to vote a certain way. But unfortunately, American democracy has a price tag nowadays. Democracy has become the best form of government that money can buy. While lobbyists have the information, money, a message and crafty skills, democracy shouldn't just work for some of the people; it should work for all of the people. How can anyone maintain that genuine democracy exists when equal representation doesn't exist for all Americans due to America's disproportionate lobbying system as it operates today?

Obama said that lobbyist "won't find a job in [the] White House." It's easy to politically exploit the image of inhuman, sneaky lobbyists, trading on their influence for shady, well-heeled special interests whose agendas contain nefarious, unpopular and destructive motives. After all, lobbyists weren't very popular in America. A lobbyist was first considered a subhuman crook that deviously influenced politicians by corruption sometime around the mid-nineteenth century. Many years passed until reforms were made that lessened lobbyists' degrees of corruption: mainly bribery and closed-door deal making. Even today lobbyists still don't have a very good reputation in the eyes of many.

But, as Robert Schlesinger pointed out, "the reality of lobbyists is different from the caricature. Yes, there are Jack Abramoffs, cynically and criminally maneuvering through Washington. And there are a much larger number of influence-peddlers who work within the law but still animate the image, hired guns who will take on the most detestable causes in pursuit of cash. But there are also lobbyists for commendable causes: saving the environment, funding schools, gun rights, gun control, and so on. The Boy Scouts spent $180,000 lobbying last year (on topics including defense, mining, and postal issues), for example. You may not realize it, but somewhere in Washington right now lobbyists are advocating your interest, because your city, county, company, or a trade association for your industry hired them."

However one views lobbyists, they are a part of democracy and their influence remains today unquestionable. It remains to be seen how much influence lobbyists will have in the next few years. As for their overall effect on democracy, time will only tell.

© Copyright YubaNet.com