Thursday, January 19, 2006

BFD: Blogging has been nonexistent because I'm sick and I've got a big project I've got to finish this week, so I've been cranking away on real work. But I'll throw this out just to put something new on the site.

What's wrong with lobbyists paying for congressional travel? If the lobbyists didn't pay for it, chances are we taxpayers would foot the bill. I know there's the concern of possible quid pro quo and that the traveling congressperson may feel obligated to vote for whatever legislation the lobbyist wants. But in many of these cases the lobbyist is going to get the legislation anyhow. And sometimes the lobbyist has a legitimate reason to want whatever he is seeking. If the bill is that bad, then we hold the congressperson responsible, not the lobbyist.

I guess I just don't feel as threatened by lobbyists and special interest groups as everyone else does.