Have to disagree with this one. In the US, lobbyists/PACs are just about the only remaining way that the average person can make their viewpoint matter. The politicians' greatest fear is the GROWTH of lobbying organizations, particularly well organized ones that can rally their members' money and votes. Look around sometime. Chances are that no matter how esoteric your viewpoint is, there's a group out there that you can join to promote it. PACs are unions for free thinkers. That is, they're single issue entities, so you don't have to buy into all of the excess baggage that comes with a union. If you can't find one you like, start one. Care about the issue enough? Quit your job. Go to DC. Become a lobbyist. If enough people care about the same thing, maybe you can collect enough money to avoid starvation AND make a difference. If you're in favor of "campaign finance reform", consider this: do you really think these laws will stop large coporations from helping their political allies? Really? And what's the difference between a union and a PAC under the new laws? Maybe the pols could get rid of the pesky unions AND the PACs at the same time... Wouldn't it be wonderful to make all your voting decisions based solely on candidates TV ads as financed by major corporations... And I'd be willing to bet that your web site would end up being classified as political advertising... -Robert
Slashdot Mirror
Have to disagree with this one. In the US, lobbyists/PACs are just about the only remaining way that the average person can make their viewpoint matter. The politicians' greatest fear is the GROWTH of lobbying organizations, particularly well organized ones that can rally their members' money and votes. Look around sometime. Chances are that no matter how esoteric your viewpoint is, there's a group out there that you can join to promote it. PACs are unions for free thinkers. That is, they're single issue entities, so you don't have to buy into all of the excess baggage that comes with a union. If you can't find one you like, start one. Care about the issue enough? Quit your job. Go to DC. Become a lobbyist. If enough people care about the same thing, maybe you can collect enough money to avoid starvation AND make a difference. If you're in favor of "campaign finance reform", consider this: do you really think these laws will stop large coporations from helping their political allies? Really? And what's the difference between a union and a PAC under the new laws? Maybe the pols could get rid of the pesky unions AND the PACs at the same time... Wouldn't it be wonderful to make all your voting decisions based solely on candidates TV ads as financed by major corporations... And I'd be willing to bet that your web site would end up being classified as political advertising... -Robert