Power in Congress Essay

A way that lobbyists use their power is by taking legislators out for drinks or nice

Dating back many decades, it appears that lobbying and politics have always gone hand and hand on any political stage. Lobbying has always had a strong presence in the legislation system. Lobbying is the process of offering campaign contributions, bribes, or information to policymakers for the purpose of achieving favorable policy outcomes. Conventional wisdom suggests that lobbying is the preferred mean for exerting political influence in rich countries and corruption in poor countries. The legislation is meant to benefit society and ensure that citizens are having their voices heard, instead of hindering them in favour of the multi-national corporations. Lobbying has a negative influence on legislations in both developed and developing

The controversy surrounding political lobbying does not question the act of influencing public officials, but rather the ethics relating to how these public officials are influenced. It is important to distinguish the fine line between bribery and lobbying. It is illegal to bribe a public official in the United States. This would mean that an individual could not provide compensation to a public official for them to behave, or vote, in a specific manner. Lobbyists may donate money to a specific candidate’s political campaign, but they may only do so when there is no expectation that the public official will behave in a favorable way toward the lobbyist or their clients (Mackinder). Lobbyists may bring public officials, their immediate families, and staff on trips or out to dinner. While it is illegal for a lobbyist representing a corporate client from directly bringing, it is not illegal for foreign governments to sponsor for these said trips (Goldmacher). What has begun to happen is lobbyists representing corporate clients may bring public officials on these trips, if the trip is sponsored by a foreign government. The Senate Office of Public Records reported that $3.23 billion was spent on lobbying in 2013, with 12,300 registered lobbyists. Professor James Thurber, who teaches at American University, has studied congressional lobbying for over 30 years, and does not believe these figures are accurate. He believes

Many controversial topics have surfaced recently, but one that tends to fly under the radar is lobbying. Lobbying is defined as a group of persons who work or conduct a campaign to influence members of a legislature to vote according to a group’s special interests (“Lobby”). Although average citizens are not fully aware of the issue, it is quite contentious in politics. For those who are against it, they believe that restrictions should be placed on lobbying because it distorts democracy. Lobbyists use money and cost-effective strategies to sway the opinions of lawmakers. Others see lobbyists as effective, political tour guides who help pass legislation. An analysis of the lobbying process reveals the outcomes are often

Views of congress are as a numerous as they are diverse. One of the largest views held by the public is that representing them in Congress

Congress is something that I never really thought much about in the past. To me, it was just a building filled with politicians who argued and made laws. I thought it was like the Schoolhouse Rock video, someone comes up with an idea, tells their legislator, the idea becomes a bill, goes through Congress a few times, and at the end of the long path the bill eventually becomes a law. I didn’t think Congress was the nicest place on earth, but I thought it was filled with fair people who only want the best for the people they represent. But, after reading Inside the Horror Show That is Congress, I’ve realized that Congress isn’t as fair as I thought. I was able to conclude that Congress only has the illusion of being a democracy and both Congress

With his article, “Lobbyists, Bearing Gifts, Pursue Attorneys General,” Eric Lipton exposed many things about the lobbying and targeting of attorneys general. The goal of Eric Lipton’s investigation into the extreme lobbying and targeting of attorneys general was to prove without a doubt that even the state officials elected to protect consumers from corporations can be swayed by those very corporations that the people need protecting from (“Eric”). Eric Lipton showed the public with irrefutable evidence that this is happening by showing the public that attorneys general were being lobbied and swayed to the side of corporate businesses, and by showing that lobbyists were stopping and influencing attorneys general’s investigations (Lipton). He showed the public in his online article that attorneys general were being lobbied and swayed to the side of large corporate businesses with large donations from those businesses, they were being lobbied by having lawyers representing

Yes, perhaps some may be left out in the cold without having a say in the hearing, but these lobbyist are professionals who “are good at attending hearings and analyzing all the testimony” (23) and have the intellect to get business done right. Corporate lobbyists follow the same process as the aforementioned “fancy suit”. They will pay a person that is available and usually in need of money to stand in line for hours, in order to save a spot in a congressional hearing. Senator Claire McCaskill is quoted saying, “[to] buy a seat at congressional hearings like they would buy tickets to a concert or football game is offensive to me.” However, the fact that these lobbyists from company X are paying to get seats in hearings is a necessary evil. These are the men and women who are aware of company X’s necessities, thus assuring that the correct decisions are made in order to benefit Company X’s profit margins. With increased profit margins, the value of a company X’s stock increases as well, thus benefitting the hundreds or thousands of people who have their savings invested in company X. Sandel’s claim of maintaining fairness is achieved when company X assures that policies create profits, which in turn also benefit the consumer. It is because of consumers that lobbyists suffer through the

My time spent this semester interning at Winning Strategies Washington (WSW), a Washington, DC based Lobbying firm, really opened my eyes to the many different types of activities done behind the scenes in order to; support, oppose or amend legislation, secure grant money for clients, and determine how new legislation and tax proposals could affect each of their clients. Lobbying is thought to be an industry that only exists for just the few wealthy large corporations that seek to undermine society, however, WSW lobbies all issues whether they be small, bipartisan, non-profit/for profit, etc. Over the course of the semester, it had occurred to me that lobbying is the epitome of a democracy at work, with

This army of people — whose activities, bear in mind, are intended at persuade now 535 members of Congress and a relation handful of federal officials — cost and expend more than a few billion dollars every year. in any case one company used up more than $1 billion in lobbying activities preceding year, at the state and federal levels.

Lobbying is an extremely controversial topic in American politics. Some citizens believe it is right for a company, and only helps the economy. On the other hand, citizens say that lobbying opens the door for corruption. However, in order to fully understand the pros and cons of lobbying first the basic definition of lobbying must be understood. The word lobby is defined ethical infringements by politicians and lobbyists. One of the most eminent ethical issues was gift giving. Lobbyists in order to influence a politician many

The United States government today is ran by the rich and powerful because of the most influential item in the world, money. Politicians and Presidential candidates today are receiving donations in the millions of dollars from huge corporations and Super pacs. The problem with this is that politicians or presidents will change their vote on a topic because of the donations and the solution is to eliminate or decrease the amount super pacs or people can donate.

There are often complaints by elected officials of special interests and the politics of America. Congress works closely with interest groups and the administration for the drafting of legislation, initiatives for policies, making sure information is provided to the government and the public on a number of nominal issues, and by making large contributions to political campaigns.

This aspect seems to lie at the heart of criticism for lobbying. The focus has tended to be and perception that lobbying has ‘shady’ back-room deals which have a special interest for lobbyists. The problem seems to lie in the intersection of big business and politics. While politicians may be viewed as corrupt and money hungry, big businesses are seen as self-serving who don’t have concerns for broader society. There is also a belief that big corporations can influence government, and there is often a blurring of differentiation between political donation and political influence through government relations. The perception is that the ‘process per se is corrupting” (Sheehan,Sekuless,2012). Thus, the of the role of lobbying is that money will be the influencer of decisions, and that decision won’t be ‘pure’. Because of this fact people find it hard to trust not only the lobbying profession,but also institutions. Because of this,there has had to be a registration of lobbyists and lobbyist code of conduct. The underlying reason for this is to prohibit special interests dominating the state or national interest. It is designed to change the perception of lobbying. A lobbying code of conduct was introduced to the senate on 13 May 2008. In the conduct it is stated that these codes were to promote trust in the government processes and the insurance that the business between

Politicians run the United States, or do they? Recent studies show that large corporations and businesses that fund candidates are actually behind what policies are being made, they also influence what laws are being changed or updated, and who wins these elections. It is no secret that these corporations play a vast role in politics. It takes a generous amount of money to fund a campaign and an even more substantial amount of money to fund a successful one.