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I gotta say, I think these sort of ad hominem attacks - lobbyists buy and sell politicians, professional politicians can't possibly understand what reality is like, etc. - aren't productive and the proposed solutions to these problems are far-fetched at best. Any good democracy needs professional politicians. These people understand the rules, have experience in political activities, can handle and execute efficiently their duties.
Furthermore, it is a very bad idea to disallow lobbying. A properly functioning democracy allows all points of view, even those of insurance companies and trial lawyers, to be heard. As annoying as it is that lobbyists with the most money get the most say, imagine if there were no lobbying allowed. Only those with money, power, and influence - those who can afford think tanks to produce reports advocating for certain policies, who know politicians personally, who can get their side of an argument to the politicans - will be able to convey their beliefs. Regular folk, represented by AARP and the Sierra Club and the ACLU and the Farmer's Bureau, will be shut out. Furthermore, there are simply too many issues with too many details for politicians, even great natural leaders, to tackle. Lobbyists provide an essential service in giving information on a nearly infinite amount of topics to politicians, even if that info is biased.
I'm not saying we don't need lobbying reform - badly - and that we should prevent political donations from speaking louder than constitutuent needs. But we need professional politicians, and we need lobbyists. One way or another, those politicians have to do their jobs, and in order to do it best they will need to find a way to get information on each issue. If we don't have open lobbying that gives everyone a chance, than politicians will look to those who have the money/power to get their point of view to Washington.
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