h a l f b a k e r yQuis custodiet the custard?
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Cities often auction a set number of taxicab medallions needed to legally operate a cab within that city.
Similarly the licences lobbyists require, for example, to operate at the federal level, could be limited in number, given an arbitrary lifespan, and auctioned. This would serve to fundraise for
the government, 'sin-tax' the lobbyist, and generally pit them against one another for the general public's amusement and satisfaction.
Furthermore, the auction's themselves could be televised, limited in time and capacity, with tickets to the auction in turn being auctioned off immediately before the event, with the ticket auction also televised.
This could be fun and educational for the public, and as Washington D.C. reportedly has 35,000 lobbyists spending $6 billion/year on lobbying, might actually raise significant funds for our democracy.
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Something to do with bloodsucking parasites? |
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Making it even harder for true grass roots lobbying to be heard. |
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MechE, I hope that financially discouraging lobbyists would allow the true voices of the American people to be better heard. |
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only if you think that articulation of //the true voices of the American people// is best done by the rich. |
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//only if you think that articulation of //the true
voices of the American people// is best done by the
rich.// |
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I think [Brian]'s idea admits that the rich are already
buying "the true voice", so why not tax them on it? |
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//Furthermore, the auction's themselves// |
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So activists from the the Apostrophe Protection Society will have to pay too? |
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Instead of having the lobbyists pay annually for a license,
why not have them pay as they go: this much for a private
meeting, cheaper rate for a meeting with 10 other
attendees, special rates for a dinner with a hundred
attendees, where you sit through a speech for chance to
shake hands and maybe speak a few well-chosen words in
the
the great one's ear .... Essentially, the same system we
have
now, except the money goes to the government instead of
the reelection campaign fund. (Though one could claim
the present system *is* raising funds for our democracy.) |
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Pursuing the taxicab metaphor, legislators would have
meters, with a little flag they flipped down, and, as the
lobbyists made their pitch, they could see the total
increasing .... |
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