Lobbying lawmakers and lobbying any niche of individuals when favor or influence is something that is being pursued to further the cause of individuals and groups. Lobbying government is a part of the political fabric and has proven to be very effective for many lobbying groups. Lobbying the public sector also has advantages for the lobbyist in addressing a wide range of involvement and interests.
Sophie Phillips, an eighth grade student at Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition, just returned from Tallahassee where she went to lobby legislative officials for Pulse Oximetry Screening for critical congenital heart defects. To present her cause, Sophie met with Senators Grimsley, Negron, and Ring, and Representatives Hudson and Harrell. In addition, Sophie met with the Governor’s Director Deputy of Legislative Affairs, Danielle Scroggins. Senator Grimsley verbally approved to find funds in the budget to support screenings for critical congenital heart defects.
As the number one killer of infants with birth defects, congenital heart defects take a significant toll on families across the country. Fortunately there is non-invasive screening test that helps identify newborns at risk for heart defects and potentially save their lives. The test, pulse oximetry, or pulse ox, consists of sensors placed on a baby's hand and foot to check blood oxygen levels. If their levels are too low, additional tests may be conducted that aid in detecting critical or possibly life-threatening heart defects that might otherwise go undetected. New research suggests wider use of pulse ox screening would help identify more than 90 percent of heart defects.
The ethics and morality of lobbying are dual-edged. Lobbying is often spoken of with contempt; when the implication is that people with inordinate socioeconomic power are corrupting the law (twisting it away from fairness) in order to serve their own conflict of interest. But another side of lobbying is making sure that others' interests are duly defended against others' corruption, or even simply making sure that minority interests are fairly defended against mere tyranny of the majority. For example, a medical association, or a trade association of health insurance companies, may lobby a legislature in order to counteract the influence of tobacco companies, in which case the lobbying would be viewed by most people as justified (duly defending against others' corruption). The difficulty in drawing objective lines between which lobbyists are "good lobbyists" and which ones are "bad ones" is compounded by the cleverness with which lobbyists or their clients can speciously argue that their own lobbying is of the "good" kind. At heart, the effort to influence legislation is a power struggle. As in other forms of power struggle, such as war or law enforcement, motives range from predation to self-defense to fighting for justice, and the dividing line between predation and justice is subject to rationalization.
REF: Lucie Links Newsletter (SLCSD) April 2013
