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So you would have the government essentially separated from the people? They get to provide input every 2, 4, 6 years at election time but otherwise we only get to try to influence them when they deign to come seeking our input? We pretty intentionally rejected such forms of government.
Why is government lobbying of other governments different? Heck, in that realm gift giving is viewed as a necessary part of the process (Hey, country X, if you promise to not pursue your own nuclear program/wage war against a neighbor/support our UN resolution we'll build you four nuclear power plants/lower trade barriers/name a tree after you). I'd think it would be even more repugnant.
You didn't say some methods of lobbying are bad, but rather that the very idea of lobbying at all is so repugnant that one day we'll be embarrassed that it ever existed (even though it has always existed in every form of government throughout all time).
Heck, even your own elected representatives are essentially lobbyists. We don't send a member of congress to Washington so that s/he can ignore the local interests back home and only act out of the best interests of the country as a whole, always acting on the average of the national public opinion). No, we expect them to use their influence and understanding of the processes in Washington to hopefully try and make sure local interests are disproportionately represented.
Nowhere in our system of government is there any existence of the idea that when it comes to governing the ideal is that it will at all times exist on a simple "all people's interests are equal" method. Such systems tend not to work in groups larger than small villages where direct democracy can be used in all government decisions and even then lobbying exists.
But anyway, that is all beside the point I was initially making in that the lobbyist rule is stupid. Since it defines a lobbyist in the most meaningless way as being someone who was paid and registered as one and then pretending that no similar conflict of interest exists for the person that hired the lobbyist. In fact, if there is an inherent conflict of interest it is more strongly attached to the community organizer who hires a lobbyist to work their interests than on the lobbyist himself. The latter is just a hired gun and may not even agree with the positions they represent. Such a person should be perfectly fine for inclusion in the adminstration since it could be assumed that once in place he'd actively work in the interests of the new boss.
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