Quick bump: Taxpayer-funded lobbying
The ugly business of government doesn't get done by ordinary people in the open; it gets done by elites in private rooms. Lobbying is one way to be heard in those private rooms. You pay to play. When it's ordinary people or charities paying, it feels unfortunate. When it's corporations and billionaires, it feels nefarious. And when it's taxpayers, it feels dystopian.
That's right, plenty of lobbying is taxpayer-funded. Cities, counties, and school districts across the United States use taxpayer dollars to hire lobbyists to influence politics. But what if your government is using your tax dollars to lobby against your interests?
Texas Senator Mayes Middleton illuminates the issue:
If you don't like Bud Light, you don't have to buy Bud Light, right?
If you don't like Target, you don't have to go shop at Target.
But if you don't like what your city, county, or school district are lobbying on, quit paying your taxes, and someone shows up with a badge and a gun and they take your property.
This is forced speech.
That's exactly right. Taxpayer-funded lobbying is forced speech.
It is an obvious abuse of power for a government to engage in lobbying, because governments are not supposed to take sides. Governments are supposed to treat everyone fairly.
Good governments do not engage in taxpayer-funded lobbying.