The World Newser is World News' daily blog. Here, you'll find our staff's thoughts on the day's news and the way we build our broadcast. Plus, we'll share reports from our team of correspondents in the field, as well as producers behind-the-scenes.
RECENT POSTS
- Going Rogue, Selling High
- What One Man 200 Miles Above Earth is Thankful For Today
- Clem's Chronicles: Toyota Recall/Afghan Speech/State Dinner Crashers
- Charlie Gibson...On this Thanksgiving
- Quotes of the Day: 'It is my intention to finish the job'
- Start Your Shopping Engines
- The Hajj and Women's Dress
- Clem's Chronicles: Afghanistan/WH State Dinner/Holiday Travel
- Photos: White House State Dinners Through the Years
- Are We Becoming A Nation of Know-Nothings?
- Quotes of the Day: 'President Obama has the information he wants... to make his decision'
- Clem's Chronicles: Jobs/Afghanistan/Health Care Reform/Deficit
WORLD NEWSER CATEGORIES
MONTHLY ARCHIVES
« Previous | Main | Next »
What’s the difference between lobbying and bribery?
January 04, 2006 3:30 PM
We asked David Chalian, ABC News’ Deputy Political Director and co-author of The Note to tell us. Based in Washington, DC, Chalian helps guide the planning and editorial content of all political news on all ABC News platforms. Here's what he said:
In the wake of Jack Abramoff's plea deal, it’s important to remember that lobbying lawmakers is not in and of itself a crime.
In fact, the great majority of lobbyists operate within the law as they attempt to meet with lawmakers and their staffs to try and influence legislative outcomes beneficial to their clients.
Power, money, and politics always have the potential to mix into a toxic brew, but for those looking to gain the legislative edge, the rules leave enough loopholes to do so within the bounds of the law.
But Jack Abramoff has pleaded guilty to lobbying outside the confines of the law by conspiring to directly bribe officeholders with campaign contributions or lavish trips and meals for official acts on the part of the lawmaker in return. That kind of clear cut quid-pro-quo is illegal. It’s also usually hard for prosecutors to prove - which is part of why they cut a deal with Abramoff in this case.
There’s an old saying about Washington – that all its politicians are crooks. It gets to the fact that money has the ability to corrupt people. However, it is important to remember that lobbying is not necessarily a dirty business, but a legal way many interest groups choose to participate in the democratic process.
Terry Moran, Nightline's co-anchor and former ABC News White House Correspondent, sent this interesting note, offering additional perspective:
There's no question that there's a lot of lobbying--legal as well as illegal--that amounts to nothing more than power for sale. But sometimes it's not so easy to distinguish the baby from the bath-water. One man's special interest is another man's noble cause.
The real reason there's so much power for sale in Washington is that there's so much power in Washington. The British newspaper The Independent said today that President Woodrow Wilson could not have imagined today's $4 billion lobbying industry. They are quite right - but Mr. Wilson could hardly have imagined today's $1 trillion-plus federal government, whose powers reach into every nook and cranny of American life. When the federal government can influence what happens in your business or your backyard or your bedroom -- you are quite properly going to want to influence it right back. That's not corruption; that's self-government. And while it would be swell if that dialogue happened in a pristine, college-seminar-style setting--or maybe a private club--free of the grubbiness of real-world interests, it doesn't. This, after all, is America. And we grub.
What's your take? Let us know.
January 4, 2006 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (6)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
I appreciate your taking the time to illustrate the differences between the two. I'd say the most important diffeence between lobbying and bribery is the amount of money involved: the more expensive the "gift" is, the more the legislator is indebted to the giver. Wouldn't you feel more gratitude toward someone who's given you an all-expense paid trip to a vacation spot as opposed to someone who's given you a subscription to Readers' Digest?
Posted by: chuck | Jan 5, 2006 3:27:15 PM
Giving in any form to a politician where you call it lobbying or bribery it amounts to the same thing. You are trying to buy his vote to favor you over the people that placed him in office. Government is so big it reaches into every aspect of the people’s lives and that is not right. It is the same thing dictators do to their people. Please wake up Americans and vote us out of this dilemma quagmire we are in today. We the people have become the few that have the power and the money to dominate over the rest of us.
Posted by: Jim | Jan 1, 2008 3:02:58 PM
whatever your definition is of bribery, please notice that the author, David Chalian, is not offering one. Curious is it not because that is the issue.
Posted by: pierre grimes | Nov 22, 2008 11:29:54 PM
The reason a normal person or business cannot get ahead is because of the influence of money and gifts. Trying to get a big contract without powerful connections or lavish gifts is almost impossible. That’s how the rich gets richer and the poor stay poor. It’s so unfair no matter what it is called (bribery/lobbying) the bible says that money is the root of all evil, i agree. Anything that you don’t earn in a respectable and ethical way, you shouldn’t be allowed to keep!
Posted by: Obria Kent | Apr 30, 2009 10:57:10 AM
No matter the boundries between legal and illegal, lobbying and bribery are both considered immoral. I agree that its not right to dictate every tiny aspect of a single person's life. Sure laws are needed to keep things in order and turn people away from harming others in any way, but what goes on in your backyard or bedroom? really? No, I don't think so. To me that shows too much influence from the Church as well, which is supposed to be seperate. I am one of the few Americans that can see exactly where this country is headed if "the people" just continue to sit back and let the government brainwash and control everyone and everything. Just because lobbying is legal on certain levels, does NOT make it right, it remains unethical. Oh the Universe knows the government is NOT ALWAYS RIGHT, these days almost never right.
Posted by: Jenna | Jun 14, 2009 1:30:30 AM
The first three words of the constitution are "We The People", not we the corporation. It is so rarely mentioned that our founding fathers realized the danger of business influence over politics. It was due to this fact that they made it a crime for any business person to address a political official with any type of business interest. This was in the beginning of our country a crime punished by fines or even prison. If we the people had a decent education system we would know these things and maybe even do something about it.
Posted by: mike mason | Sep 19, 2009 5:10:02 PM
Post a comment
