re: #256 Dark_Falcon

Yes.

When it comes to dealing with government officials, there should be restrictions on what interactions they have with people specifically because they are representatives of all people.

I don’t give a shit where that rich man goes in his own private dealings. But talking to the government, giving money to an electect official is not a private dealing. Period. It is dealing with an elected representative, and the representative has restrictions on what he can and cannot do, which translates to what he can and cannot do with constituents.

It’s very much like where I work as a government contractor. There are a million rules about how I interact with government people - like I cannot buy them lunch, and if I offer catering they have to pay their part - in order to prevent even the appearance of attempting to buy influence.

Hell, I personally would go so far as to say that any meeting with a government official in any kind of official capacity is to be considered in the public interest, and public has the right to know what goes on in those meetings, national security exempted.