We have to break the grip that lobbyists have on our government for good. My plan to end Washington corruption calls for something unique—a new tax on excessive lobbying. elizabethwarren.com/plans/excessiv…
Corporate lobbyists swarm Congress and our federal departments to weaken, delay, or kill efforts to implement laws they don't like. They spent more than $2.8 billion on lobbying last year alone.
My tax on excessive lobbying would apply to every corporation and trade group that spends over $500,000 a year lobbying our government. If this tax had been in effect over the last 10 years, over 1,600 corporations and trade groups would've paid an estimated $10 billion in taxes.
Every dollar raised will be placed into a new Lobbying Defense Trust Fund dedicated to directing a surge of resources to Congress and federal agencies to fight back against these lobbying onslaughts when they occur.
Nobody will be surprised that the top five industries that would've paid the most are those that have spent the last decade fighting tooth and nail against popular policies: Big Pharma, health insurance companies, oil and gas companies, Wall Street firms, and electric utilities.
We can end excessive lobbying. This is the kind of big, structural change we need to put power back in the hands of the people and end corruption in Washington.
