How Taxpayers Fund Getting Shafted

If you remember the K Street Project, it was a jewel in criminal Tom Delay’s crown.  Only lobbying firms who hired exclusively Republican lobbyists and donated exclusively to Republican politicians were rewarded with desired legislation.  Many say that there is no difference between the parties, because K Street influenced both.  However, to a greater extent than ever before, Republicans are hiring lobbyists to write the legislation their companies want, and taxpayers are paying their salaries.

For six years, Doug Stafford was a lobbyist for the National Right to Work Committee, an anti-labor group financed by business and conservative interests. His job changed last year but his duties did not when he became the chief of staff to Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky. Mr. Paul is a chief sponsor of the National Right to Work Act, which he said [Republican propaganda delinked] would end forced unionization and “break Big Labor’s multibillion-dollar political machine forever.”

Brett Loper’s career path is a similar one. When he was an executive for the Advanced Medical Technology Association, an industry group, he lobbied hard against President Obama’s health care reform. Now, as the chief policy adviser for Speaker John Boehner, he is helping to organize the effort to repeal the health care law. The only difference is that the taxpayers are paying his salary.

There has long been a regular shuttle service between Capitol Hill and Washington’s K Street, but the numbers now are striking. Since last year’s Republican victories, nearly 100 lawmakers have hired former lobbyists as their chiefs of staff or legislative directors, according to data compiled by two  watchdog groups, the Center for Responsive Politics and Remapping Debate. That is more than twice as many as in the previous two years.

In that same period, 40 lobbyists have been hired as staff members of Congressional committees and subcommittees, the boiler rooms where legislation is drafted. That again dwarfs the number from the previous two years.

While some of those lobbyist-staffers were hired by Democrats, the vast majority are working for Republicans… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Yes, it’s true that lobbyists are working in Congress  for both parties.  There they write and promote legislation that screws taxpayers to benefit their corporate clients.  Taxpayers pay them for this.  But the vast majority are working for Republicans,  making Democrats, with all their faults, a better choice.

Rather than just complain, I do have two solutions.  First, make it illegal for anyone who has ever worked for a lobbying firm to run for federal office or work for the federal government in any capacity.  Second, 100% public financing for all federal campaigns will give elected public servants an incentive to represent their voters, not their financiers.