Originally Posted by
mwilbert
Well, first, the way politics work in this country isn't very desirable. So it's worth reminding people with specific example of how they work occasionally.
Second, there are lots of reasons for trying to gain political influence. The most pernicious type is probably bribery by foreign agents, and we can say that isn't the problem with the Morouns. However, the next most pernicious is lobbying against the public good for personal financial advantage, which is what the Morouns are doing with respect trying to stop the new bridge. I would point out that with most things people lobby for, there is an actual public interest argument for what they want, even if the argument isn't very strong or there are stronger opposing ones.
For instance, lobbying for subsidies for stadium construction is in the personal interests of a team owner, and most likely not worth the cost to the public, but at least the public gets a stadium out of it. In the case of the bridge, at this point, with Canada financing the construction of the bridge, the only real argument against is that it is better for the Morouns if that didn't happen. They probably know they aren't going to win, and are just trying to postpone the day they have competition. Every day of delay is nothing but a 100% loss for the public, in a combination of higher fares and congestion. This isn't unique--the Sonny Bono copyright extension act was lobbied for by the entertainment industry and resulted in a very similar extension of old monopolies without any benefit to the public--but it isn't the norm either.