My recent visit to Utah reminded me how important the Beehive State is to the quest to save the American Republic from the death grip of socialist engineers. If the rest of the nation joins Utah in selecting electors to alter our current direction, there is hope for systemic change, perhaps for the first time in almost 100 years.
More than a century ago, the Progressive Movement foisted the 17th Amendment onto our Republic. Riding the anti- corruption mantel, Republican and Democrat progressives, precursors to today’s liberals, destroyed the most important bar on unlimited federal expansion by removing the election of United States senators from the state legislatures.
As more power was vested in Washington, D.C., the lobbying industry blossomed into the acrid fruit of the burgeoning federal state. Instead of citizens being able to petition their local state representatives, who reside among them, decisions were moved to the nation’s capital, and lobbyists became the powerful intermediaries between the populace and their increasingly isolated and elite representatives.
Lobbyists have become so powerful that some of them believe it insufficient to be a mere petitioner, and run for office. It is a strange world indeed where someone who recently peddled influence and power can instantly run for office to represent the very people whose interests were of no previous concern.
Of course, people can change course, as I am personally engaged in doing. I was one of the nation’s leading lobbyists and represented my clients’ interests vigorously without regard to almost any other interest, which led to my demise and term in prison. I came to see that special interests are all too frequently opposed to the general interest.
The special interests have plundered our treasury, ably aided by those who would expand the nanny state in ways unimaginable by our founders. In Utah, the federal government has sequestered more than 60 percent of the land.
Lobbyists who wish to enter public service can have a positive influence, but only if they cease being lobbyists. The lobbyists who run for office to impact the nation positively should commit never to return to their former professions. Otherwise, how can voters trust that they won’t featherbed their own interests while in office?
We need to send to Washington, D.C., people dedicated to fighting the status quo, not profiting from it.
Utahns, our nation looks to you to lead the way: Send heroes and heroines, not those who fear or, worse, those who would profit from our demise.
Jack Abramoff
Author of Capitol Punishment: The Hard Truth About Washington Corruption from America’s Most Notorious Lobbyist
Silver Spring, Maryland
