Lawmakers could seek out experts to ask for advice, rather than the experts coming to them. They could read papers, or have their staff do so. They could send staff to talk to people about the issues they're facing.
Re:AWS Ruins Own Attempt at Sabotage
by itsoktocry on Wednesday June 10, 2020 @05:24PM
(#23482314)
>Lawmakers could seek out experts to ask for advice, rather than the experts coming to them
I guess they could spend all their time researching random problems, but lobbying helps vet important issues. They are representing a constituency, after all.
And, in reality, good politicians do do their own research, and many even write bills and promote policy that they genuinely believe in (even when it agrees with lobbyists).
Of course, because we're talking about money and people and relationships, there's inherently some corruption that seeps through, but most of the laws (and lobbying) is pretty boring stuff. Without lobbying most lawmakers would have no clue about some issues. How could they?