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Comment by dvdhnt | Hacker News Reader

Hard pass.

This would be a fragile suture over the gushing wound that is corporate lobbying. It's literally allowing wolves in the hen house.

If we're going to keep doing this whole Democratic Republic thing, along with the Constitution, we need to adhere to the spirit of the framework and not just the letter of it.

The federal government was set (what was at the time) far away from everyday life so that our representatives would not be swayed by salesmen and their snake oil.

So, if you want to make a difference Liz, do something about the root problem and help us defeat corporate lobbying.

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Part of her platform is to curb the influence of corporate lobbying. I'm not an expert and I'm sure there are places to go for more details than this, but for example: https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/congressional-independence

That example is resourced under "plans" but doesn't offer one. It doesn't list steps or actions that can be taken to stop corporate lobbying, just a vaguely worded closing sentence about giving congress the "tools" to combat lobbying.

The business of lobbying has grown to over $3 billion per year according to OpenSecrets.org [1]. That doesn't include campaign contributions. It's impossible for so much money to make its way through individuals with their own self interests and result in a sustainable government beneficial to the people. Money will always win whenever it makes an appearance. We can't combat lobbying with tools, we have to prevent it.

So, it's a non-starter until she lays out actual actions to consider or commits to ending the practice.

1. http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/

The Constitution was designed 240 years ago, when travel along the Boston-DC route took days or weeks. Communications took as long as people could move. The uneducated masses weren't expected to play an active role in government. Gerrymandering was considered, but not a problem (certainly not to the ultra-optimized state it is today). Firearms didn't carry nearly the destructive power they do now. The Supreme Court wasn't so consistently divided along partisan lines.

Almost every facet of our country could use re-evaluation. Health care should be a right for the people. Basic living conditions should be provided for all. The country has the money, the space and the food.

We could be so much better than we are now - and we're pretty good now.

Your vague plan of just stop corporate lobbying immediately fails because the negative incentives for someone in congress vastly outweighs the positive.

There's nothing vague about it.

RFPs work in every industry. Depending on the bill, Congress should request proposals or maintain a list of credentialed experts overseen by a watchdog agency outside of their control. Or they could be nominated by professional organizations and guilds.

Either way, no, Google, Shell, et al should not be allowed to spend X dollars sending former members of Congress or others to advocate for them, especially when experts in those fields, or scientists, contradict them.

Regardless, throwing our hands up and shrugging it off is absolutely the wrong course of action.

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