Controlling Lobbyists

[Ellen Taylor <ellenstaylor@yahoo.com>]

If anyone thinks controlling lobbyists is the way to affect campaign finance, just take a look at the Sunday (3/25) edition of the Los Angeles Times - page A1 - for the article on why the lobbyists are feeling they are in fat city these days in Washington. Their special interest issues are being addressed faster than they thought possible.  Regulations that enforced ergonomic rules, set strict control of arsenic levels in water, limited carbon dioxide emissions, etc. --  all gone in the blink of an eye.  And done as favors for large campaign contributions from the industries that were formerly regulated.  How do you control industry paid lobbyists when the powers that be feel they "owe" favors to industry contributors?  Real reform must come from a more certain, less tainted (and I use that term deliberately) direction.