Lobbyists, Earmarks, Bureaucrats...oh my!

The problem with a sound bite culture is that people get confused between a given label and things that are abusive and can be described by that label.

There is nothing inherently wrong with being a lobbyist. Many lobbyists are highly-educated in the field in which they lobby. What's more, a blanket repudiation of all lobbyists can have devasting effects when one tries to staff one's nascent administration. What is wrong is when a lobbyist abuses their access (or when an earmark's effects are abusively local, or when a bureaucrat abuses their position). When you roll all three abuses together, things get really ugly (see here or here).

Labeling a group on the basis of the abuses by some members of the group is a form of mental cheating. Information is the currency of democracy, let's not cheat ourselves of the whole of the information out there.