Lobbyist and felon Jack Abramoff

I just finished reading Capitol Punishment by Jack Ambramoff, the notorious lobbyist who served years in federal prison for numerous crimes related to his lobbying activities. I remain cautious of such memoirs of the guilty because they are so often toned to at least partially exonerate themselves after the fact. Even though Abramoff may be presenting a biased view of his case, he does not hold back in admitting his wrongdoing and accepting responsibility for his acts.

In politics the players are portrayed as be either demons or saints. In reality transgressors are more subtle; often they are trying to do the right thing and get carried away in their means, rationalizing small misdeeds for a greater good. The path to corruption is the first misdeed, making the second and subsequent unethical or illegal acts not only easier, but somehow justifiable. Politics breeds ethical compromises believing that the ends justify the means. There is no right way to do the wrong thing, but there are many wrong ways to do the right thing.

I was attracted to the book because it would be hard to find a better story of how the lobbying business really works. Jack built a thriving lobbying business and became a wealthy and important player. He was effective for his clients but he was very aggressive and every victory for his clients was a defeat for another party. His string of victories left a trail of enemies.

To be successful you need friends, to be very successful you need enemies. Jack was very successful.

But he broke the law and paid dearly, becoming financially destitute and spending years in prison, largely isolated from his family who stood by him. While lobbyists like Abramoff are certainly part of the problem, the greater root of the problem is a government that has so invaded every aspect of our lives that firms hire people like Jack to either defend their interests against foolish but crippling legislation, or insert lines into laws to acquire unique advantages absent in the market place.

Money is the lifeblood of lobbying and many of the very Congressmen who crucified him in months of hearings had no moral qualms about taking money from him and his clients during his career.

Jack offered some advice of reforms to reduce the corruption.

No party who has business before the Congress should be allowed to make any political contributions. Period.
All staffers and elected leaders should be barred from lobbying or working for lobbying firms for life.
Strict term limits for all Congressmen

It seems unlikely that such reforms would ever be accepted. I would even support a much higher compensation scale to elected leaders to compensate for the loss of income opportunities after the job.

It is ironic that the very candidates who criticize the lobbying industry the most seem to be the most active in increasing the regulations and expanse of government that provides the breeding ground for the lobbying industry. Until we can return to a more constitutionally restrained government, our attempts at reforms will likely be inadequate.

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