Another thing ...
Hillary makes a good point but I think goes too far in her description of the Athens Banner-Herald's editorial on lobbyists, well, going too far.
Namely that it's one thing for a lobbyist to speak on behalf of a concerned portion of the citizenry. It's another thing for them to be picking up the tab for $350 meals and giving them box seats for Thrashers games.
Namely that it's one thing for a lobbyist to speak on behalf of a concerned portion of the citizenry. It's another thing for them to be picking up the tab for $350 meals and giving them box seats for Thrashers games.
posted by Jmac at 5:34 PM
4 Comments:
Giving the lobbyists or the people being lobbied the box seats?
It doesn't matter at all for whom the lobbyist picks up the tab, does it? As in, a lobbyist for the NRA and a lobbyist for SANEs both pick up an expensive meal tab; are both in the same "another thing" category?
If bargaining for representation is in any way permissible, how does one prohibit the inevitable competition from moving towards greater and greater tabs being picked up?
I mean, would you be okay with a lobbyist picking up a tab for a representative's slushee? What's the difference, really, if there is one at all?
I think, fella, that you're reading too far into what I was saying. I'm not arguing that lobbyists be allowed to buy _anything_ for representatives. I'm focusing on the aspect of the ABH's argument that suggests lobbyists are not the same as constituents.
Me fella or Johnathan fella?
Johnathan fella. I don't think your comment is inconsistent with what I was saying necessarily. It's a separate point.
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