[ahagotyou]

Goes a long way to explain how someone like GWB can rise to the position of President.

[Pwy9egVW]

Money has rotted your system to the core.

[pobrierce]

I'd love to pnw you guys again, but I don't have time.

[mirvokrug]

Businesses are run by citizens, who have interests related to their businesses, and thus the lobbyists working in their interests are nothing more than citizens exercising their political rights.

Money may have rotted the system, but that is a fault inherent and inseparable to the system.

The problem isn't the lobbyists, it the politicians. As long as pandering two faces power obsessed idiots get elected by citizens who care about nothing more than their own special interests, another problem inherent and inseparable to the system, the money problem will always be the case.

You can't legislate away every problem, and if our sense of civics is this broken legislating won't do anything anyways.

[wizardasa]

Maybe we should set aside a week in October just before the elections where every Congressmen has to take the floor and list every perk he accepted and from whom on national televison (manditory broadcasting on major channels).

On second thought, lets set aside the whole month of October

[Muesrasrs]

Originally posted by Arrian
Lobbying is just legalized bribery. I know, I know, it's protected free speech, and the cure would probably be worse than the disease. We should legalize all bribery... it's just free speech

[MizzDaizzy]

A guest appearance on The View.

[VewCoorkPow]

Personally, I'm coming around on this issue. Or at least my views are becoming more nuanced. It has never struck me as right that unionmembers pay for union advocacy on issues with which they don't agree. Likewise, it doesn't strike me as right that shareholders pay for corporate advocacy on issues with which they don't agree.

[majestictwelve]

Yes, that was sarcasm.

-Arrian

[leareliovag]

Ah, but what if a media corporation wants to provide free/low cost advertising to a candidate? What if they just run stories that favor a particular candidate? Limit that and you destroy the heart of free speech.

[tinamasak]

What qualifies as an ad, rather than "we wanted to have candidate X talk to you about stuff because, after all, there's an election going on so what he says is newsworthy"?

[Vomephems]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
What qualifies as an ad, rather than "we wanted to have candidate X talk to you about stuff because, after all, there's an election going on so what he says is newsworthy"? That would require them to offer the equal opportunity to the other candidates to "talk to you about stuff because, after all, there's an election going on so what he says is newsworthy".

Not all candidates accept free time btw. Particularly at the local level.

[Koayrbzh]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Not all candidates are equally newsworthy. Yeah, the probem arises of course with small "fringe" candidates. Our system has various "qualifiers" depending on what you are talking about (ads, election spending, election financing, "party" status, debate eligibility, etc..). Very cumbersome and unfair in many respects. A work still in progress.

edit: I thought you would have asked about financing given the donation restrictions I mentioned earlier. Federal campigns/parties are tough to run on $5000 individual donation maximums...