From my article in today’s American Thinker, Save the Swamp:

If the per capita cost of government is x, then every deduction, credit, and tax benefit awarded to one party comes at the expense of another.  The main function of lobbyists is to exploit their influence to get tax benefits for their clients.  They exist because of the basic principle of lobbying: focused benefits and dispersed costs.

The benefit to an industry or a specific company from very specific legislation and regulation can be substantial, making the lobbyist’s generous expense account easily justified. The costs, however, are dispersed over millions of taxpayers and are too inconsequential per voter to justify spending political capital to oppose. 

 

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