How do we get what we want done in Washington? Almost every voter has asked themselves this question at some point. I have a solution here where we can get what we want done. Find out how...
The answer to this question is usually "I don't know" or "contact your senator" or "Let's start a letter writing campaign (popularized by some interest groups/activists/humanitarians)". These results are usually abysmal at best and the norm is that these letters fall on deaf ears. Yes, occasionally there will be one particularly moving story that gets attention, but the norm is to do nothing.
So I asked myself how does anything happen in Washington? How are laws written and voted on? Not how is it supposed to happen, or not the textbook definition; how does it really happen? Much of it is actually driven through lobbyists. I have met a lobbyist that has written a bill handed it to a congressman, had it voted on, and later became law.
OK where do I get one? Well lobbyists usually work for corporations, non profit organizations or special interest groups. The most successful lobbyists usually work for corporations, but it is not the lobbyist that matters as much as the promise and eventual follow through of campaign contributions that the lobbyist makes.
So how does this information help us. We elect politicians to vote on laws on our behalf but they don't because it doesn't benefit them. They vote on laws based on who gives them campaign contributions because they need to get reelected. We pay them through our tax dollars but that doesn't make them do what we want.
What is needed and the way that this information helps us is it tells us one simple thing. We need to hire a lobbyist to get what we want done. So lets talk numbers, for simplicity say a lobbyists salary is $100,000 a year. That means that if 100 people want something voted on all they have to do is give an organization that pays the lobbyist $1,000 a year. Now the lobbyist can write a bill that the organization tells them to, the lobbyist can then hand that bill to a congressperson, and ask them nicely to vote on it. Well the lobbyist would have a lot more help if they had something behind them. Namely a large campaign contribution. OK for more simplicity say a nice campaign contribution is $600,000. That's 600 more people giving $1,000 a year (700 people total) for one bill for one politician. Now for one bill to actually get passed you need to give 270 campaign contributions for a majority vote. So that is $162 million, or 162,000 people need to give $1000 a year.
So lets say were were able to get this many people together. They each would get an equal vote for $1000. But they would not necessarily agree on every issue. Majority would have to decide.
Opponents of this idea can say we already pay taxes and vote, why should we have to pay more money. The problem with that is none of that covers campaign costs, the thing that helps out politicians to win elections is campaign contributions. And if those campaign contributions are held until a vote is made something can get done. The other problem is we vote for individuals to then vote on laws. Citizens do not get a say on the actual laws.
Other opponents say not everyone gets an equal share with this system, some people who can't afford $1000 a year don't get a vote. This is true, however comparing to our current system, if you have two corporations that have a competing product and a law would help one over the other, the corporation with more money to give campaign contributions is the one that will get the law written.
Now the question is: Is it a good idea?
And: Will it work?
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
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