LOBBYISTS: Ban them, one and all

When was the last time you called your Congressperson to discuss something of critical importance to your life? No, I don’t mean when did you last leave a phone message on the phone bank of their organization or an email on their website. (Just for fun, do it sometime. What you will receive is a form letter/form email response saying the Congressman values your input and wouldn’t you like to contribute to his/her campaign.) 

So who has your Congressperson’s direct office phone number and their home number? Who takes your Congressperson on vacation on their private jet to the Bahamas or Europe? Who takes your Congressperson to a $300 lunch or $500 dinner just to let them know what their concerns are?  Who has their giant law firm write up a multi-hundred page bill that they want your Congressman to propose to Congress? 

Until we make ALL lobbying against the law, we cannot pretend to have a democracy.

GARTH EVERETT

Post Falls