Lobbying

[Taylor Willingham <taylor@bwillingham.com>]

At the beginning of our deliberation, I asked you what factors you thought would be important to consider in deciding whether or not to increase restrictions on lobbyists.  
And yet, you still have serious concerns. 

You have expressed a concern over the motivations of lobbyists, but it is difficult to determine or monitor motivations. On the one hand, "good" lobbying is that which represents the public's best interest, but lobbyists are spokespersons of a particular group that they represent. The idea of transparency and openness seems to make lobbying more palatable, but some of you have pointed out that it is difficult to be diligent and informed.  

If we were in charge of reforming our lobby system, what would we like for it to include? What are some tensions or competing values that might make this a difficult task for us to accomplish in the best interest of all concerned?