The recent Supreme Court First Amendment decision to permit unlimited expenditures on lobbying our elected leaders shocked most Americans. It shouldn’t have. As distasteful as it may be it is a Constitutionally correct decision. 

Lobbying per se is not evil.  Lobbying on an uneven playing field i.e. one where voters have little say in the decisions that result from lobbying, is unfair. But then as President John F. Kennedy once said, “Life is unfair.''  So what can we do to make it fair?  

What if there were a means for Americans to radically-but-not-anarchically restructure our local and national government into a system that puts Big Money, the military-industrial complex, special interest groups, their lobbyists, liberal and conservative politicians, and the American people all on the same side of literally every issue? It would all have to start with a single question: “What’s good for America?” 

Bill Clinton put it well when he said, “For too long we’ve been told about ‘us’ and ‘them.’ Each and every election we see a new slate of arguments and ads telling us that ‘they’ are the problem, not ‘us.’ But there can be no ‘them’ in America. There’s only us.”

LOBBYING IN BROAD DAYLIGHT 

It is important to remember that, as corrupt as it has become of late, lobbying is a powerful force that is firmly embedded in our national fabric. The DayLight Movement (DayLightForum.org) offers a new system in which lobbyists will still lobby and spend billions of their clients’ dollars doing so, and special interest groups will still press their agendas and spend billions more doing so. The only difference will be that these individuals will have to direct all of their persuasive tactics to We-the-People, rather than to politicians who, in order to remain in power, are forced to seek favor from self-interested financial masters instead of from the people who they are sworn to represent.

The beauty of this form of governance is that it brings a healthy dose of reality to related subjects like “honor in Congress” and “lobbying.”  For example, under the DayLight system, lobbyists can, within reason, do virtually anything they want and Congressmen and women can accept virtually any favor because those transactions, and our entire government, will all be conducted in the bright light of day. Lobbying that is forced into the open is far less likely to be dangerous to our individual and national wellbeing. You cannot legislate human greed and frailty away but you can drag it into daylight. 

 When my children were growing up, I borrowed a phrase, “Roof top shout” from a book, entitled “Helping Your Child Learn Right from Wrong, Values Clarification,” by Dr. Sidney B. Simon and Sally Wendkos Olds, which offers a simple seven-step process for reacting to any situation or temptation. 

The idea behind “Roof top shout” is, “Before you do something, would you be willing to climb up onto your roof and shout your intention to the world? If not then don’t do it.”  We can help our elected leaders put that simple “truth tool” into practice by putting them on the rooftop of the DayLight Forum. 

The DayLight Movement is about Americans who are terrified about our financial future, our children’s future, and our national safety. No single leader or political administration can save America from threats to these basic aspects of a happy life. Only We-the-People can save our nation from the forces of greed, evil, and plain bumbling that operate within our current systems of government and commerce. 

To be fair, the fact that our political leaders have not and cannot save us is not entirely their fault. Our present system of governance and leadership is simply not up to the challenges of modern-day America. If it were, millions of Americans would not be going to bed hungry every night; we would not be mired in literally trillions of dollars worth of debt; we would not be engaged in wars that do not need to be fought; and we would not be playing benefactor to countries whose citizens hate or, at best, disdain us for our government’s perceived imperialistic and bullying ways. 

Solving unemployment, saving our environment, combating terrorism, improving our education system – all are important, but these are just symptoms of a greater challenge that must be faced, and solved, by We-the-People. What is most important is that we bring our system of government into the 21st century. 

Our current democratic system was created before the telephone, radio, television, and the Internet were invented. Because today’s technology enables something far better, it is both the right time and our duty to become agents of change. 

Radio talk-show host Randi Rhodes has said that, “there is no conscience in American politics any more.” 

Well, I believe that we do indeed have a conscience, but it has been suppressed by fear and lies perpetrated by our elected leaders and the Big Money and Special Interests behind them. For the first time in history, the technology to get to the truth is available to the average American. All we need is a reliable means and place to access it. 

The DayLight Forum is that place; a place where we can aggregate our greater collective consciousness into a veritable “Master Mind” via a truly democratic, virtually real-time, voting process as described on its Home page and in the short simulation reached by clicking on the little gold map on the Home page’s upper right hand corner. When everyone who truly cares has a voice we will be able to decide how best to tackle the massive challenges that loom larger each day.  At that point Lobbying will be our friend.