Elizabeth Warren wants to 'end lobbying as we know it' and, unsurprisingly, lobbyists are not happy

(Image credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

published 2 October 2019

The latest plan from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) does not have a lot of support from lobbyists, which shouldn't come as a huge shocker, considering she's targeting them with taxation.

The Democratic presidential candidate announced Wednesday that, if elected, she intends to "end lobbying as we know it" by pursing a 35 percent tax rate on corporate and trade organization lobbying if the amount is somewhere between $500 and $1 million. The progressive rate would increase to 60 percent for spending between $1 million and $5 million and 75 percent for anything over $5 million.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

"Senator Warren wants to tax people because she doesn't like them exercising their right to petition the government," U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley told The Hill in a statement Wednesday. "I am sure lots of people would like to tax politicians who give too many speeches, but that isn't constitutional either." The Chamber of Commerce is reportedly the country's top lobbying spender and has already spent $40.6 million so far in 2019.

Explore More

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox