A tax on lobbying is interesting - but if the return on lobbying is somewhere between 22,000% and 100,000% as it has been estimated to be then a tax of 35-75% will do next to nothing. priceonomics.com/the-rate-of-re…
A mild tax would just make lobbying slightly more expensive. You would either need to make the tax greater than 100,000% - or 1,000x - or prohibit lobbying entirely. Or you could flood the system with people-powered money and tie legislators to the public. yang2020.com/policies/democ…
The citizens of this country need to become our most powerful lobbyists. Voting is not enough to hold legislators to task because of incumbency and the two-party duopoly - the voice of the people is now drowned out by corporate money and interests. That is what we must reverse.
One way to free up legislators from corporate interests is term limits. Right now legislators spend decades in DC trying to stay in power. With term limits you would be free to vote on behalf of your constituents because you are returning home soon anyway. yang2020.com/policies/12-ye…
A Democracy Dollars bill that put $100 into every voter’s hands each year to contribute to campaigns and candidates would be a much more effective way to overcome corporate lobbyists than a mild tax. You can’t just make lobbying a bit more expensive. You have to flush it out.
