Lobbyists-R-Us

The Arkansas legislature does not seem to show much interested in ethics reform but come to think of it, why would we attempt to “reform” ethics? Does a decent standard of behavior not come with its own expectations and demands that educated grown-ups can agree upon? Apparently not if a recent turn of events is any indication.

Lobbyists have long been a thorn in the side of the general public. The perception is that members of Congress are too busy trying to please “big” (name your industry) with little regard for “little” America (although “big” is demonized during reelection campaigns and “little” America is schmoozed). To this end there have been attempts at both the state and federal levels to require certain reporting standards by members of legislatures to make public how much they receive from “big” such as lunches, gifts, trips, etc. And each time such reporting issues come forward, there is always a reason why such reporting requirements cannot be agreed up although the one thing most public officials can agree on is that it is ok to accept freebies from groups who otherwise would not have given them the time of day were they not somewhat influential.

The truth is, lobbyists serve a need and like it or not, they do in fact represent “little” as surely as they represent “big”. After all, what is a lobbyist but a specialist in a particular field or someone who has access to such specialists and who approach members of Congress or a state’s legislature to present their case? The lobbyist speaks for a group or an industry made up of numbers sometimes too great for legislators to ignore. It is not only “big” oil, et al, who is doing the talking. There are other social groups such as “Right to Life” and PETA, et al, who also have the numbers and capability to gang up on members of Congress or legislatures in order to be heard. On a rational level, I think Americans can accept this concept. What they have a hard time digesting is that legislators seem to believe it is ok to use the office which actually belongs to the public for his or her own personal gain. After all, if a member of Congress accepts a free trip to the Bahamas from a lobbying group, how does this possibly benefit his or her constituents? Is hearing and reasoning somehow more acute in such an environment than in, say, Washington DC or Little Rock AR?

I think it is not lobbyists who are the problem. These are sales persons who will do whatever they must do to get a legislator’s attention. It is up to the legislator to draw the line because it is he or she who is – like it or not – accountable to the public, and not the lobbyist. The legislator has been enabled by a complacent public to get away with seemingly endless perks and privileges because voters do not pay attention to anything but sound bites and TV personas – and legislators know this because they have hired professional political consultants who actually do pay attention to “little” America. They see how our eyes light up at the offer of “shiny beads” political promises, and they know how to feed that appetite.

This will not end until voters end it. Two things have to happen: 1) there must be at least a 50% turnover in the Congress and the state legislature, and 2) the replacements must be sent it with an agenda. It is possible, but it will require a committed and informed voting public. But as long as Congress and the state legislature enjoys a better than 90% incumbency rate, we may as well resign ourselves to higher and higher taxes and more and more government control over our lives. This is the reality of our future on the present course.