Monday, December 17, 2007

Shedding Light on Congressional Cockroaches

On the same day that one article in The Hill points out that the massive spending bill working its way through Congress is larded with earmarks, another piece claims that lobbying firms in the nation's capitol are diverting resources away from "appropriations lobbying" to other types of advocacy. Leaving aside the fact that the distinction between policy lobbying and appropriations lobbying is not always clear, one perhaps can be forgiven for suspecting that the lobbying firms doth protest too much, and that this is little more than a PR campaign designed to convince the public that the problem is being reduced so that said public will turn its gaze away from the unseemly mess.

That being said, it should not be forgotten that the problem here is not where it is often mistakenly put. People have the right to advocate positions before their government. The problem is not lobbyists. The problem lies with a Congress that is progligate with other people's money.

For further information on this bipartisan disgrace, see Robert Novak here.

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