Forget the lobbyists
COMMENTARY
Josh Deitz

It’s been an interesting few weeks for special interests in politics. The recent pandering in Texas and California was no surprise, given how much power lobbyists have these days.

Apparently the months of bickering weren’t preventing the Texas Legislature from taking care of any particularly important business. When the Legislature finally reconvened, one of its first priorities was to go after vicious criminals and their license plate frames.

Those devils. Obscuring tiny bits of their license plates in a malicious attempt to support their favorite universities.

Actually, I can think of quite a few things I’d rather have police working on than license plate frames. Texas citizens are already rallying against the law. After all, this was a bill specially requested by toll collectors, not police or public safety agencies.

Police around the state are already taking advantage of the law to go after any license plate frames, regardless of how little they actually obscure the license plate. It is one thing to go after drivers who are deliberately trying to obscure their license plates for malicious purposes. It’s another thing entirely to persecute drivers who just want to support TCU or advertise their car dealer.

The situation is even worse in California. One year ago, Governor Gray Davis vetoed a bill that would have allowed illegal immigrants to apply for drivers’ licenses. Davis signed a nearly identical bill a few weeks ago. Apparently a recall election that may hinge on Hispanic voters can make a difference in government processes.

Regardless of the worthiness of the bill, the timing of its passage could not be more suspect. To make the recall election even more ugly, nearly all of the front-running candidates have been exposed for taking money from groups like Indian casinos and big business. No one is surprised about these special interest donations, but they are getting more and more despicable. Americans are growing increasingly frustrated with the increasing pollution of government by special interests.

Last week, however, Congress showed that it is still capable of acting on behalf of the American people. After a judge in Colorado ruled that the Federal Trade Commission did not have the authority to enforce the “do-not-call” list, Washington kicked into high gear. Congress had a bill drawn up and passed almost immediately with only eight representatives voting against the action.

With national tension over everything from wars to tax cuts, the 50-million-number strong “do-not-call” list finally brought the country together. Congress finally did something purely because the people asked for it. It’s sad how shocking it is to say that.

Government is not fated to be dominated by special interests. We have to find and elect politicians who are willing to work for the public rather than lobbyists. Forget the fight between donkeys and elephants; it’s time to kick out the special interests.

Josh Deitz is a senior political science major from Atlanta, Ga.