Throughout his campaign, Obama kept reiterating an administration without lobbyist’s influence; an administration that would return to the pillars of democracy, in which all the citizens of government have an equal voice. But because his efforts to limit lobby influence in politics have not been sufficient, President Obama will fail to keep this promise made to the people of this nation. Currently, more than a dozen former lobbyists work within the Obama administration. It can also be said that much of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign was funded by lobbyist money. Although Obama did not receive money from lobbyists, he did receive millions from firms such as Goldman Sachs and Microsoft. Receiving money from such corporations is like receiving money from special interests. Essentially this is exactly like taking money from lobbyists, who also work for special interest groups.

Even after taking such mass amounts of money, Obama was still elected by the “common” citizens of this nation, revealing how much citizens actually know about lobbyism. For if the people of this nation knew just how much negative influence lobbyists have, they would also attempt to restrict their power. Ultimately, the majority of this nation picked a president, who even with a desire to restrict lobbyism, has used it to achieve campaign success; all the while leaving the nation clueless to it. Citizens need to realize that lobbyists infringe on their voice, and leave them powerless in the running of this government.
President Obama, like many presidents, made a promise during the campaign which he could not keep. This should have been clear during the campaign, as it would impossible to restrict lobbyists’ power at all once. If President Obama were to ban their power, his pool of possible applicants for his administration would be dwindling, as the people who are most qualified for those jobs may also be lobbyists. Ultimately, the president needs to create awareness of this power, and then fight to solve just as hard as he tried to pass his health care bill.

So What's the Big Deal?

So what’s the big deal with lobbyists? Are they really a problem? YES. Lobbyists are paid by major interest groups and corporations to persuade congress to vote their way. They act under the radar, clearly proving their corrupt activity. That’s why they keep sticking around: nobody knows exactly what they are doing. The average citizen may know what they do, but not everyone understands their impact.
Here is a situation: a bill is put to congress in hopes to lower college tuition costs; this is a subject that affects the majority of the youth in America. In attempts to lower costs, the bill process is swiftly halted by lobbyist influence in congress: interest groups linked with private and public universities begin dealing with congressmen, offering money and other forms of compensation if they vote against the bill. For any lawmaker who is on the bubble, they will decide based on their own personal benefit, not on their beliefs or the wishes of the American public. Since there is always only a small portion of congressmen on both sides of an issue, when the middle gets pushed to one side, there is no preventing its route. Due to the lobbyist influence, the bill is done, and there will not be a lowered tuition for students across the nation. This decision will leave countless students in debt, possibly preventing them from making decisions that would ultimately benefit the economy. With lobbyists in the picture, there is no telling what congress will do.
Stories like this occur constantly in congress; the actions of the lobbyists have a long lasting effect on our nation, yet seldom do the American people put the pieces together. In effort to alleviate the issues our nation faces today, something must be done to stop the lobbyists from preventing progress in our nation’s capitol.

Cutting Lobbyists Out Of the Picture

Many make the argument that it is in the best interest of this government to utilize lobbyists to solve the problems that plague our nation. While it holds true that lobbyists are very well informed and certainly have the tools necessary to bring change and reform to this nation, appointing government positions to lobbyists would cause more damage than reform. There is no denying the fact that lobbyists have the ability to solve the problems of this country; the problem is, they don’t have the intention to do so. Lobbyists work for private individuals, large organizations, or even general groups of people to push the views and values of these various groups through congress; they do not work for the common man. It is for this reason that lobbyists in government would not only harmful, but also contradict the values of democracy on which the government was built.
By appointing lobbyists to positions within the government, we ultimately give them more influence and power, meaning more power for the individuals they work for. If this were to happen, our government becomes less about equality and more about wealth. The ideas and beliefs of the common man (also the majority of this nation) would be overlooked for the values and beliefs of the wealthy that use their money to force congress to sway in their favor. In the end it’s an infringement on democracy, as not every man, but rather only the wealthy man has a say in the running of their government. Ultimately the result being a Hamiltonian government, in which wealthy rule over the rest of the nations, creating only more consequences and problems. Not only would this mean an increased gap between the wealthy and the poor than that which exists already, voter turnout would decrease tremendously. In the current state, we barely get citizens to go vote, so what will be the result when the say of these citizens doesn’t matter? It will only create more frustrations and debate within the citizens of this nation. It’s what lobbyists stand for that goes against the foundation and values of this nation, and for that reason that lobbyists can not be associated with government.

PSA: Hi, I'm a Lobbyist

PSA: Lobbying in America

The Background of Lobbyists

Lobbyists work for large organizations, private individuals, and the general public. No matter who they work for, their strategies remain the same. Their job is persuasion, plain and simple. It’s a much easier job than expected, since congressmen are outnumbered two to one by lobbyists. Occasionally, they even lobby one another. In essence, they hover around the bill process until they get their way.
First of all, lobbyists are controlling. To begin this corrupt process, lobbyists generally write the bills: long ones. The bills get sent to the house, but always with an under-the-radar vote. A prime example of this process came with the Medicare prescription drug bill. It was written by pharmaceutical lobbyists, with over 1,000 pages, and was sent to the house in the morning and voted on by 3:00 am the following morning. Every ounce of the activity was kept under the scope of reporters because the bill’s time in the house was less than 24 hours and took place while the rest of the nation was sleeping. The consequences of this bill: prescription drugs in the United States are the highest in the world and it is illegal to import cheaper drugs from Canada or Mexico.
Also, lobbyists stretch the rules. The ballot for voting on the bill is supposed to be open for 15 minutes; for the Medicare prescription drug bill, it was open for three hours. Leaders were walking around, pulling individuals aside, twisting their arms in order to vote in their favor.
Most importantly, lobbyists are ruthless. A member of the house was interviewed after the bill was put through and this is what he had to say: ‘"We had a good friend from Michigan, Nick Smith, and they threatened to work against his son who wanted to run for his seat when he retired," he recalls. "I saw a woman, a member of the House, a lady, crying when they came around her, trying to get her to change her votes. It was ugly."’ (CBSnews.com)
Lobbyists have an abnormal amount of influence over the legislative branch. Their incredible amounts of wealth keep the opinions of the majority swimming against the current of industry values. Instead of worrying about honest progress, these lobbyists are turning our congressmen into money loving flakes. There needs to be a change in our legislative process, and it starts by the removal of lobbying.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/29/60minutes/main2625305.shtml