David Sirota is a political journalist and author of “Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Government Conquered Our Government and How We Take it Back.” David is one of those voices in the wilderness tryiing to get us to wake up and do something to take back this country from the lobbyists.
I wish I could blame all the power of lobbyists on the Republicans, but I am afraid the need for money infects both parties and most candidates. In the current race, John Edwards is one of the few candidates in contention that has taken a strong stand against taking money from lobbyist and PACs.
And I still catch my breath when I realize that NAFTA passed under Bill Clinton. Boy was he wrong about NAFTA! NAFTA did a lot to the American worker, but nothing for him.
Something is wrong, bad wrong in this country and I am glad to say that it took the unbelievable abuses of the system by Bush and the Republicans to make me care. Well, now I care! In this interview David and I cover a lot of territory about the problems, but the point to be made is the solution.
We have got to get our politicians off the lobbyist teats. The answer is ultimately to realize that when it comes to politics, free speech means the right to buy a politician. Get rid of the right to buy them and we just might discover some real politicians. You know, the ones that have the guts to stand up for what is right! The ones that can do what is right without worrying about losing monetary support for re-election.
We have allowed this system of legalized bribery long enough. You can lobby without making campaign contributions. Common cause, AARP and other public interest groups lobby on the strength of their positions, not the thickness of their wallet.
What we need:
1. Publically funded elections.
2. Ballot access for more parties especially on the local and state level.
When both Democrats and Republicans have to face ordinary people running for public office without a monetary advantage, each of us will get a lot more respect from our elected officials.
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