One of the most hated groups in America is lobbyists. Almost everyone reviles them. Hardly anyone has thought about what they are. This is going to be controversial, I know, but lobbyists are a useful part of the political system.

When people think of lobbyists, they think of people who reward Congress critters under the table and work against the interests of the people. There is truth to that. There has been more than one dirty lobbyist in DC, and some are still there.

But have you ever thought about this? What do lobbyists do? At least some of them represent groups of people, just like you and me. For example, the American Dairy Association has lobbyists who represent the interests of dairy farmers. Should we ban that?