The American Spectator

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Political Hay

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I have had my share of disagreements with business lobbyists over policy and regulatory matters, at both the state and federal levels. Yet, I always recognized that they carried out an essential function if one values the independence and vitality of the private sector and the market economy. You cannot keep expanding the reach of government at all levels and not expect red-blooded Americans to do what they need to do in order to protect their interests and shape government policy according to their best judgment as to their private interests and that of the country as a whole.

SO WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE one in judging the role of lobbyists in Washington, D.C., in 2006? "Conflicted" is the honest answer. When lobbyists raid the public treasury for private benefit or torque policy for special advantage, it is an abuse of the right to petition the government for just ends. It deserves all the criticisms, denunciations, and abuse that the citizenry can bring down upon them.

But when lobbyists and, in many cases, lawyers, are on the strategic defensive, it must be recognized that they are fulfilling a vital function in the checks and balances of a limited, constitutional government with a distinct bias in favor of the private sector and ordered liberty. One can disagree with the positions or viewpoints they might advocate in the political and governmental bazaar, but it is an entirely legitimate, even necessary function in a free society. You cannot take the politics out of politics.

Lobbying abuses must be challenged whether they are perpetrated by Republicans or Democrats. But the abuse must be differentiated from the appropriate use of this necessary tool.

If conservatives, including not a few Republicans, want to restrain the worst excesses of the lobbying business, they need to address the root causes of government spending and unconstrained expansionism. Something like Newt's Contract With America might do the trick. It is time to put a stake in the heart of Big Government Conservatism.

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