PRO:

1) Harms the democratic process

a. Lobbyists have too much influence
i. “Corporations and business associations combined now have a 25-
to-1 personnel advantage over public interests and unions
combined in registered lobbyists.” –Lee Drutman
http://www.projo.com/opinion/contributors/content/CT_drut8_02-
08-09_9UD6QNO_v8.4001ae1.html
b. Corporate gains increase separation between corporations and public
i. for every $1 million its clients spend on its services, it delivers, on
average, $100 million in government benefits.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/print/lobbyingclass_
print.html
c. 5 democrat senators took 19 million and voted against health care reform –
Opensecrets.org http://prof77.wordpress.com/2009/10/04/81-of-
democratic-voters-support-the-public-option-but-19-million-health-
insurance-lobby-dollars-support-the-five-democratic-senators-who-voted-
against-it/
2) Harms the American citizens
a. Stopped production of the electric car – Who Killed the Electric Car?
i. Increases death rates
http://bicycleuniverse.info/cars/pollutionpaper.html
b. Contributed to financial crisis
i. http://www.scribd.com/doc/25911325/Lobbying-and-the-
Financial-Crisis?secret_password=&autodown=pdf
ii. http://www.responsiblelending.org/tools-resources/headlines/IMF-
Study-Links-Lobbying-by-US-Banks-to-High-Risk-Lending.html
iii. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/04/imf-study-links-
lobbying-high-risk-lending
c. Lobbyists push for ethanol has led to global poverty
i. “ADM has cost the American economy billions of dollars since
1980 and has indirectly cost Americans tens of billions of dollars
in higher prices and higher taxes over that same period” –James
Bovard, CATO Institute http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-241.html
ii. “Decisions are responsible for more than 50 percent of the recent
increase in food prices and will account for more than 33 percent
of food inflation in the next decade.” And “The World Bank
estimates that high food prices will quickly pull 100 million people
back below the poverty line.” – Foreign Policy 2008
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2008/06/16/the_global_food
_fight?page=0,0
CON:

1) Benefits Process
a. Provides Unique Citizen Participation
i. Baumgartner – Great public legitimacy
1. “In a world without lobbying…”
b. Legislators cannot function without
i. Two types of information
1. Technical Info
2. Constituent Info
a. Identify a problem (GLBT)
c. 10,000 bills per year
i. No time, funding, or staff to learn about all
d. Amicus Curiae Briefs
i. Provides information to Supreme Court
ii. Provides voice for those in territories when bringing suit against
US
2) Benefits American Citizens
a. NAACP, GLBT, Women’s Suffrage, MADD, Seatbelts
i. Clarence Mitchell, Jr. (Library of Congress via Wiki) - NAACP
ii. MADD has saved over 300,000 lives
(http://www.madd.org/getattachment/719560b1-b2c2-4bac-a35e-
baf7568080fa/2007-2008-Annual-Report--PDF.aspx)
iii. Seat Belts – saved 147,000 lives (http://www-
nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-01/esv/esv18/CD/Files/18ESV-
000500.pdf)
iv. Children’s Defense Fund - champion policies and
programs that lift children out of poverty; protect
them from abuse and neglect; and ensure their
access to health care, quality education, and a moral
and spiritual foundation.
b. Required for research grants
i. http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/Exobiology/politics.
html
c. Saved Genetic Engineering after reaction to Dolly the Sheep