Lobbying should be outlawed. Period. One person, one vote. In addition, all campaign contributions should be disclosed and limited to single individuals with tax ID's. Since it appears that this will never occur as long as the legislators who are responsible for such a bill's passage are "on the take", I am proposing a NATIONAL REFERENDUM, popular vote, in other words, to keep the conflicts of interests in check. An exercise in direct democracy.
Why is this important?
What is the purpose of pretending that we have a representative form of government when big money is allowed to continually subvert the democratic process? Personally, I once thought my vote was a partial buy in to this process, in addition to my responsibility to be a good citizen and participate in between elections by letting my representatives be aware of my opinion on key issues. But lobbies are an end-run around this entire process, producing disenfranchised citizens, apathetic voters, and on the extreme side, separatists who actively oppose the system.
