WSJ thinks there is a "Constitutional Right to Influence Politicians"

[UpInArms]

Pay to play -- taxpayer style

excerpt:

House Republicans, meanwhile, are conducting a race for majority leader centered primarily on which candidate is less ethically compromised. The first two candidates are John Boehner of Ohio, who famously distributed checks from tobacco lobbyists on the House floor, and Missouri's Roy Blunt, who left his wife to marry a tobacco lobbyist. They have been able to present themselves as representatives of good government because, unlike some of their colleagues, their enmeshment with lobbyists falls short of the legal definition of bribery. (Come to think of it, "falls short of the legal definition of bribery" might make for a great GOP campaign slogan this fall.)

Luckily, not everybody has to pretend to be appalled at the influence lobbyists hold over Washington. The Wall Street Journal editorial page noted with dismay that the House leadership may propose "a ban on lobbyist-paid golf junkets or limits on the House floor privileges of former members of Congress," and complained that such draconian measures would "further restrict the constitutional rights of other Americans to influence members of Congress."

Were you aware that the Constitution granted you a right to influence members of Congress? I wasn't. I knew I was allowed to "petition" them, which can take the form of phone calls, letters, pamphlets and the like. I had no idea this right included hiring a former member of Congress to buttonhole them on the House floor, or plying them with golf junkets in the hopes of influencing their votes. Apparently liberals aren't the only ones constantly "discovering new constitutional rights," to use a favorite Journal phrase.

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[Miss Chybil]

1. We do have a right to influence our representatives.

That's why they're called our "representatives." Do you think they're supposed to get elected, go to work and not listen to any of us anymore? It's not the lobbying that's the problem. It's the money. The money that some people have versus others that don't. They need to level the field by taking the money away.