I think most of them should be in prison, but if you forbid money spent on campaigning you just get the candidate chosen by our fraud media complex. If you make lobbyist illegal you fight a symptom rather than a cure. You want Congressmen that aren't spineless avarice filled fools that cave to lobbyist. If you make it illegal, you just push the process underground and make legitimate lobbying unavailable for the good causes. Make it more difficult to abuse power? That's a goal, not a procedure. It's easy to say to do it.

We let them do this to us out of a rational self-interest. It's not worth your effort to dedicate your life to a venture when your singular opposition will achieve little to no tangible results. It's a rigged deck right from the start. Democracy just provides a new justification for the same power system that's been in place since the emergence of government.


Edited by Equality 7-2521 - March 01 2012 at 10:34

The professor I had for Supply Chain Management last semester (who is known in our school's business department to be one of the best professors there as well as a hardcore libertarian) said that if you really want to eliminate our current system of lobbying where political favor is bought and sold, you must do 2 things:

1) Cut the government off from it's source of revenue (eliminate most or all taxes)

2) Kill it's printing press (The Federal Reserve)

Probably a bit oversimplified, but he's absolutely right.

horsewithteeth11 wrote: The professor I had for Supply Chain Management last semester (who is known in our school's business department to be one of the best professors there as well as a hardcore libertarian) said that if you really want to eliminate our current system of lobbying where political favor is bought and sold, you must do 2 things: 1) Cut the government off from it's source of revenue (eliminate most or all taxes) 2) Kill it's printing press (The Federal Reserve) Probably a bit oversimplified, but he's absolutely right.

3) Lobbyists magically go away.

Equality 7-2521 wrote: There's nothing magical about it. If the government has no money or power then what exactly are the lobbyists buying? Tours of the White House? You really mean 3) Lobbyists logically go away. Lobbyists don't exist as a fundamental part of the political world. They represent a symptom of the particular power structure.

Government has money and power.  You don't have government without it.  I just think that the only thing lobbyists should be able to do legally is write, e-mail, or phone in just like the rest of us.

Press 1 for...


Edited by Slartibartfast - March 02 2012 at 09:44

Equality 7-2521 wrote: You act like money and power are objects like a sandwich and a rock. There's degrees. Are you really trying to argue that if we had a government such as say under the Articles of Confederation that people would be sending lobbyists to influence the federal government? What can lobbyists do that you can't do legally?

Perhaps legality isn't the central issue.  Having money and using it gets you favors.  Now this whole sandwich and a rock thing.  Which do you posit is which?  Money is like a power rock sandwich.  Articles of Confederation?  A Confederate States Of America was attempted.  I seem to recall we took care of that.   Slaves used to be counted as fractional people.  No right to vote just counted for purposes of representation.  Gone.  Booze, totally made illegal and then that was reversed.


Edited by Slartibartfast - March 02 2012 at 10:23

What was the middle part?

Super Donors: A Guide to the Top Ten Super PAC Givers

I'm politically inept and I only loosely keep up with political news from RT, BBC America, and Bill Maher's ridiculous show, but I wanted to ask you *professionals* if any of you think any of the current GOP candidates besides Ron Paul even stand a chance in the upcoming election. What do you think?

colorofmoney91 wrote: you think any of the current GOP candidates besides Ron Paul even stand a chance in the upcoming election. What do you think?

Nope. I don't even know if Paul would win but he'd be the only with any real chance.

Romney is just to bleh and not very popular with the GOP.
Gingrich lolno
Santorum o f**k no


Was gunna give reasons but eh who cares amirite?