This isn't a matter of simply weighing the concerns of one set of lobbyists against those of another, but using a standard of care and independent judgment about what is best for our society.

If Congress isn't knowledgeable enough to make that determination, they need to be consulting independent experts, not lobbyists for one side or the other.

Congress needs to act the same way, doing deep thinking and research about which policy approaches will best serve our country, rather than simply trying to balance the requests of various interest groups without regard to what is right.

I like these thoughts from Tim O'Reilly. However, I don't think that our government has enough mechanisms that provide for independent policy analysis. I've recently been thinking that working on this problem may be more important that either campaign finance reform or electoral reform.

All the think tanks are partisan and most of the heavy lifting in federal policy is done by the lobbyists who are paid by the special interests to hold particular opinions. I don't think we know how to define and fund something independent.

Perhaps, these things ought to be funded by tax dollars. Ironically, the answer might be to pay Congress and Senate offices more - allow them to expand their staffs and pay their staffers better, so that they can spend more time analyzing legislative proposals and aren't as beholden to the financial opportunities that wait for them in the lobbying community after their time in Congress. If they represent us, perhaps we should pay them more, so that they are less reliant on lobbyists to get things done.

Paying Congressmen more in order to reduce corruption is a radical idea. I'm not sure its right, and I even if I was, I'm not sure people would buy it.