Finally real stimulus for the economy…Lobbyist money!

The figures are in for the money spent on lobbying last year and while it’s a mere five percent increase that equates to $170 million dollars on the total 3.7 billion spent overall. It might not seem like much if you are bandying those numbers around like Dr. Evil holding the world for ransom, but when you consider where that money goes it is staggering. All of that money of course goes to a good cause eventually, a top notch chef, the waiter who served the meal, the trucker who delivered the supplies to the restaurant, etc., so obviously it doesn’t make any sense to cut this off. Regardless, there’s finally an industry in America that is growing! The Healthcare bill and maybe even the so-called “Stimulus Package” may have actually saved or created some jobs!
If you are one of the many that thinks lobbying means standing in the foyer of an elected official waiting to change his mind about upcoming legislation, you would be wrong. Lobbying has become the process of pedaling influence in the form of thinly veiled bribes. Be it through skyboxes for sporting events, access to the Big Pharma jet, or a never-ending supply of top shelf martinis, lobbying to sway opinion has turned in to a game of ‘Pimp my Congressman’. The average American who still has a job is glad for that, even if it came with a cut in pay, yet our elected officials are never without a yearly cost of living increase while spending more time ‘at recess’ than a poorly run day care center. And although I can cry crocodile tears at the hundred thousand dollar pittances Senators make, it is all the ‘perks’ from the lobbies that make living the DC ‘Cribs’ lifestyle so attractive.
I point this out not to rail against lobbyists or the process of lobbying in general. I’m merely trying to draw attention to the extravagant lives our Pols live, and to remind you that money, one way or another, comes out of our pockets. And for an administration that is bent on doing away with the culture of corruption and influence, they sure have no problem bellying up to the open bar. As well we certainly can’t ever get rid of the lobbying process, how would Washington ever know which way to cast their vote? The government just needs to quit making bad guys out of lobbyists when their glasses and tummies are full.