by Zach Bigalke

Created on: June 13, 2007

In the 2005 film "Thank You For Smoking", a lobbyist for the tobacco industry is portrayed in a satirical light. But there is nothing satirical about the realities of lobbyists on Capitol Hill influencing policies which affect America as a whole. Lobbyists, by their nature, are fighting to achieve gains for a particular industry or cause which otherwise would be either ignored or decried as harmful to our society. Legislators and other politicians are elected by the populace to work for their constituencies; lobbyists circumvent this purpose by offering various bribes to enact legislation which benefits only those industries for which they lobby.

The auto industry's lobbyists cry into our elected officials' ears that fuel economy standards will cripple the industry. Recent legislation reflects this fallacy. The bill passed by the current Congress to increase fuel efficiency standards by forty percent within the next fifteen years is saddled with a clause that permits automakers to flout this requirement if it is not economically feasible. With rising petroleum prices crippling the budgets of more American families, and automakers continuing to show record profits, this clause satisfies only those large corporate interests at the detriment of the American citizenry and environment.

Pharmaceutical lobbyists push for legislation which makes it criminal to seek medicines from Canada at lower costs. The government, in turn, has made it illegal to do so. Americans who could have otherwise afforded medical treatment are forced to choose between food and medicine because these drug giants must maintain their profit margins. Congress works to satisfy whichever voice is loudest and most belligerent; when lobbyists are those voices, the needs of the people are neglected in favor of pandering to this vocal minority.

Politicians have continued to be mired in scandals because they are accepting bribes in return for government contracts. The plight of Randall "Duke" Cunningham illustrates how susceptible to lobbyist intervention are our legislators. Cunningham is currently serving a 100-month term of imprisonment for accepting over two million dollars in exchange for large military contracts. Without the influence of lobbyists, purported leaders such as Cunningham would not have the opportunity to squander this nation's finances and security in exchange for houses and boats.

Lobbyists of all stripes are working for interests other than those of the American people. When they are allowed to have unparalleled access to our elected officials, those officials often tune out the needs of the public in exchange for the fiduciary gains of pandering. Remember, at the end of "Thank You For Smoking", the main character leaves his job as a tobacco lobbyist when he recognizes the poor example he is setting for his son. But that is where the parallels end...he did, after all, return to exert influence in other ways. The only way to prevent unnecessary power falling into the hands of corporations is to prevent their spokespeople from financially influencing our elected leaders.

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