Pros And Cons Of Being A Lobbyists
Just like a salesclerk advertises its products in the market to benefit their business, similarly a Lobbyist manages to influence the government officials to pass such laws that are beneficial for their group. The main job duty of a lobbyist is to communicate and carefully discuss the laws written by them with the government officials. The legislators cannot ignore the lobbyists because they donate a ton of money in their campaigns, and if they go against them, the lobbyists can invest their money into the opposing party and/or can destroy their party’s reputation by spending their money in the advertisement which may be against their party and may result in losing their seat in the next election. Mostly, the lobbyists represent bigger business organizations, such as the oil industry, the beverage industry and the insurance companies as well. However, they not only represent big companies, they also represent smaller companies such as environmental, social, education and labor causes; mainly the things that requires more public interest. The main question is that since the lobbyists represent a big part of the public voice, which may have not been recognized if the lobbyists weren’t there, do we still restrict the lobbyists or do we still have democracy left in this country? The answer
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is, yes, we are still a democratic nation as long as the American citizens continue to be a part of the political procedures. In a democratic society, the public is supposed to take responsibility and be accountable and they show this authority through their designated government official who takes the duty to represent their people. The lobbyists believe that their rights are protected by the first amendment which gives them the freedom of speech to voice their opinions and they cannot be restricted from performing their duties under this amendment. There are about “fourteen thousand lobbyists in Washington, D.C. [which shows that] it is clear that there is a demand for lobbying” and restricting lobbying would be quite against the states that have major lobbying system (“Should”). Lobbyists, are not completely wrong, as mentioned earlier, we all are represented by our politicians and we do want them to represent us; however, sometimes the nature of dealing and connections among the legislators and the lobbyists can be tricky.
While opponents of lobbyists believe that they mostly do not show the nation being united, they can bribe American politicians easily; whereas, the supporters believe that they spend a lot of time researching the importance of a law before writing it, to see whether if it’s harmful or beneficial for the state since the Congressmen have many other job duties to fulfill, they cannot fully manage all the research work a lobbyist can
do.
If we take a look at the financial catastrophe, we should not be hesitant in thinking that some legislators might have been economically profitable because of the campaign contributions and many other favors that were asked from the lobbyists, which sometimes also resulted in bribery which risked the whole country’s situation. The things that may help solve these issues could be if every government candidate only used the money given from the government to run their campaign. We as a populations should happily donate a portion of our tax money, which will directly go to the candidates who can use these funds to run their campaign and that way they do not have the need for donations from the lobbyists.
In our government system, our officials have tried limiting the role play of money in our political system and not make it the main priority of the government. America being a developed country, corruption is occasional; however, we the people believe that money can play with anyone’s intentions since everyone wants to be richer than they already are, which may eventually lead to corruption at some point. Even though, government does put restrictions on the wrong usage of money, our belief as a citizen that money might corrupt the government, stays persistent. Some citizens think that the interest groups, lobbyists and their welfares for the country are not pleasing at all. However, lobbyists are no different than any normal citizen, as their rights are also protected under the constitution’s First Amendment which gives them the right to serve our government. Lobbying is the voice of a citizen which affects the decision making of the government and this specific right created a vast number of lobbyists serving in different states. Some state lobbying hugely differ from the opposing stare’s lobbying, which creates about “50 different versions” of it (“Lobbyist”). Each and every state oblige the lobbyists to fulfill the “registration requirement, and all require lobbyists to report on their activities” (“Lobbyist”). The government already has enough restrictions on the lobbyists, such as the public can morally support the lobbyists, but they are unable to help them financially as the government has prohibited public aid for lobbying. Government is really strict about any false announcements made by the lobbyists; especially, in the revelation of the legislators’ working with them.
We believe that the interest groups is the voice of a citizen; however, this may not be the case all the time. Since the lobbyists have money, they can represent any group and guarantee any interest group to have their opinions persuaded by the government. Because of the main factor, that they have tons of money, they can get into politics and encourage people that they can help pass bills that favors the people. In order to receive benefits from the government, the public has to give something in return. Such as in order to get a good serving health insurance, they have to pay thousands of dollars for it. Some example of the interest groups in the 21st century that has influenced in law making are the National Education Association (NEA), the National Rifle Association (NRA) and more. The main purpose of these groups is to influence the lawmakers or whoever is in charge of the money that is given into these administrations. The NEA represents teachers and persuades the government legislators that are involved in the school regulations and the budget for education. The NRA endorses gun ownership for the people, so they persuade the government to keep on passing the laws that promote gun ownership. The government has enacted the gun law in the bill SB1907, which states that college students can carry a gun in campus or in their locked cars; however, it must be concealed and not visible to other people. The main resource the lobbyists use in their jobs to persuade the government is money. They get funded from the supporters and use it to promote their campaign. Nowadays, candidates need billions of dollars to pay for advertisements; therefore, they need the help of these lobbyists and cannot afford to resent them. This is the main reason why these lobbyists are so powerful and have so much demand in the public.
.
is, yes, we are still a democratic nation as long as the American citizens continue to be a part of the political procedures. In a democratic society, the public is supposed to take responsibility and be accountable and they show this authority through their designated government official who takes the duty to represent their people. The lobbyists believe that their rights are protected by the first amendment which gives them the freedom of speech to voice their opinions and they cannot be restricted from performing their duties under this amendment. There are about “fourteen thousand lobbyists in Washington, D.C. [which shows that] it is clear that there is a demand for lobbying” and restricting lobbying would be quite against the states that have major lobbying system (“Should”). Lobbyists, are not completely wrong, as mentioned earlier, we all are represented by our politicians and we do want them to represent us; however, sometimes the nature of dealing and connections among the legislators and the lobbyists can be tricky.
While opponents of lobbyists believe that they mostly do not show the nation being united, they can bribe American politicians easily; whereas, the supporters believe that they spend a lot of time researching the importance of a law before writing it, to see whether if it’s harmful or beneficial for the state since the Congressmen have many other job duties to fulfill, they cannot fully manage all the research work a lobbyist can
do.
If we take a look at the financial catastrophe, we should not be hesitant in thinking that some legislators might have been economically profitable because of the campaign contributions and many other favors that were asked from the lobbyists, which sometimes also resulted in bribery which risked the whole country’s situation. The things that may help solve these issues could be if every government candidate only used the money given from the government to run their campaign. We as a populations should happily donate a portion of our tax money, which will directly go to the candidates who can use these funds to run their campaign and that way they do not have the need for donations from the lobbyists.
In our government system, our officials have tried limiting the role play of money in our political system and not make it the main priority of the government. America being a developed country, corruption is occasional; however, we the people believe that money can play with anyone’s intentions since everyone wants to be richer than they already are, which may eventually lead to corruption at some point. Even though, government does put restrictions on the wrong usage of money, our belief as a citizen that money might corrupt the government, stays persistent. Some citizens think that the interest groups, lobbyists and their welfares for the country are not pleasing at all. However, lobbyists are no different than any normal citizen, as their rights are also protected under the constitution’s First Amendment which gives them the right to serve our government. Lobbying is the voice of a citizen which affects the decision making of the government and this specific right created a vast number of lobbyists serving in different states. Some state lobbying hugely differ from the opposing stare’s lobbying, which creates about “50 different versions” of it (“Lobbyist”). Each and every state oblige the lobbyists to fulfill the “registration requirement, and all require lobbyists to report on their activities” (“Lobbyist”). The government already has enough restrictions on the lobbyists, such as the public can morally support the lobbyists, but they are unable to help them financially as the government has prohibited public aid for lobbying. Government is really strict about any false announcements made by the lobbyists; especially, in the revelation of the legislators’ working with them.
We believe that the interest groups is the voice of a citizen; however, this may not be the case all the time. Since the lobbyists have money, they can represent any group and guarantee any interest group to have their opinions persuaded by the government. Because of the main factor, that they have tons of money, they can get into politics and encourage people that they can help pass bills that favors the people. In order to receive benefits from the government, the public has to give something in return. Such as in order to get a good serving health insurance, they have to pay thousands of dollars for it. Some example of the interest groups in the 21st century that has influenced in law making are the National Education Association (NEA), the National Rifle Association (NRA) and more. The main purpose of these groups is to influence the lawmakers or whoever is in charge of the money that is given into these administrations. The NEA represents teachers and persuades the government legislators that are involved in the school regulations and the budget for education. The NRA endorses gun ownership for the people, so they persuade the government to keep on passing the laws that promote gun ownership. The government has enacted the gun law in the bill SB1907, which states that college students can carry a gun in campus or in their locked cars; however, it must be concealed and not visible to other people. The main resource the lobbyists use in their jobs to persuade the government is money. They get funded from the supporters and use it to promote their campaign. Nowadays, candidates need billions of dollars to pay for advertisements; therefore, they need the help of these lobbyists and cannot afford to resent them. This is the main reason why these lobbyists are so powerful and have so much demand in the public.
.