There is just no practical way for a domain expert to make the potential for unintended consequences of this stuff fit in his mind.
It's narrow "single purpose" legislation that seems to cause the most long-term problems.
I wonder if it's possible to buy bills via Kickstarter...
Is that legal? Would a PAC or Super PAC be needed first?
Not true.
Support these:
Contact your representatives, do something.
I think his point was that OP did exactly that, and found that the 'AAs already have his legislator firmly in their pocket. It's like that scene at the end of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, where the chick is all relieved to see someone she knows and trusts, only to realize too late that he has already been converted.
I also absolutely hate the phrase, "Do something!" or "Get involved!" in regards to politics or causes in general. It's absolutely useless. People already know that they want to do something, they want to know what they can do that will actually have an effect on the outcome, preferably with tutorials, lessons learned, etc. Harassing already-bought politicians does not fall into that category.
True indeed. The only thing to do with them is send them packing on the next off ramp. That's the idea behind a web app I'm developing: http://repwatch.us
You've got to be able to keep track of who needs to go and why.
And of course you don't buy a bill, you just strongly suggest (with the implied promise of continued donations)
I believe it's called lobbying, but nobody has tried it via crowd-sourcing yet. I should get a patent ;)
Kickstarter itself may not even allow (I bet their TOS forbids illegal activity) but the PR might be good to call attention to the problem of lobbyist influence.
Talk to Lodsys.