Political Action Committees

Political Action Committees
REALTORS® believe in political action. Our 1.3 million member organization has a strong legislative agenda. We lobby to prevent transfer tax and promote home ownership and protect our industry through RPAC (REALTORS Political Action Committee). We have a legislative meeting in Washington every year and visit our congressmen. Is this bad? Do we wield unfair influence over the government? Is this an example of corruption?
As a REALTOR, I benefit from these activities. Homeowners definitely benefit from these activities. So this isn’t bad… What about the tobacco lobby, trying to protect a killing industry? What about the pharmaceutical lobby, keeping drug prices high and protecting their ability to market dangerous drugs? Does the gun lobby, protect citizens rights or cause a proliferation of materials to be used in violence and crime? Maybe our political action committee is good and some of the others are bad. Who would make that decision.
Where do we draw the line between exercising free speech and buying legislative votes? What is democracy anyway? Majority rules; but minority has rights as well. These are probably issues and questions that will never be answered to everyone’s (or anyone’s) satisfaction. They are issues and questions that are really critical as we enter a new political era. If the Democrats simply replace the Republicans as the power brokers, they might as well have lost the election.
David Segrest is a REALTOR in Charlotte NC. His website is http://www.segrestrealty.com His email is david@segrestrealty.com He is also a contributor on Argentina to: http://realestatebloginternational.com/