About ten years ago I was asked to come speak to an honors American government class at the University of Oklahoma. That's right - this proud OSU graduate went to Norman to try to help some OU students with their education. But I digress. The instructor was a friend of mine from high school and he wanted me to share a little about how things actually worked at the state capitol. That's right he wanted me to summarize the legislative process in less than one hour.
One question from a young lady on the second row has really stuck with me over the years and it was a question I had never really considered. "Why should we believe what you're telling us? You just represent a special interest group?"
Up to that point I hadn't ever thought of my role at OPC as being that of a special interest group. I certainly recognized I had a responsibility to represent the interests of Oklahoma's pork industry, but if I was simply explaining the facts of the situation and challenges our industry was facing that surely didn't make us a special interest group. Did it?
Pick-up the newspaper today. Turn on the TV or the radio. Visit a political or news website. Somewhere you'll find a story relating to cap-and-trade or financial services reform or the gulf oil spill. And in virtually every one of those stories will be some comment blaming the "special interest groups" who are opposed to what new policy the government is proposing. It doesn't matter who is opposed to the policy - the opposition is always the special interests.
When the media is writing about cap-and-trade legislation or global warming legisation and they tell you the agricultural special interests are opposed to new legislation, why don't they also tell you the environmental special interests are supporting the legislation.? Why aren't those who believe in global warming the special interests? On the state level, when we start pitting funding for meals for senior citizens against additional funding for education, which side is the special interest side?
What I'm driving at is every group or individual that pushes some legislative or policy agenda represents a special interest. Unless it is those very rare occasion where everyone in the country shares the same feelings or interest, it is something pushed by a special interest. A couple of examples - and even these are not perfect. The first is the belief the US should go to war with Japan following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The second is the desire for justice following the 9-11 terrorist strikes. These are cases where there was an overwhelming majority - nearly a unanimity of opinion as to what was in the country's best interest.
Today, you see groups pushing for legislation regulating puppy mills. Let's limit the amount of salt in our foods. Let's pass a tax on sodas. Let's use more corn for ethanol. Let's stop all off-shore drilling for oil. Let's drill in ANWR. Everyone should drive a hybrid and I want to drive an SUV.
Legislators go out on the campaign trail and tell you they won't let the special interests run our state or nation, but they never tell you which groups are the special interests. The Obama administration said they are shocked the oil and gas industry had input into regulating off-shore drilling. And then they turn around and appoint a former lead counsel from an environmental advocacy group to be a lead administrator in EPA's water division. They are opposed to special interests from "corporate agriculture" but the deputy secretary of USDA is an outspoken advocate for organic farmers.
I'm not here to tell you that all special interests are bad. Obviously I think the work I do at OPC to represent the needs of our industry is the right thing to do and that it is in the best interest of the country. Just because the animal rights activists or the environmental groups have a different "interest" than I do, it doesn't make ME the special interests.
Who decides what's a special interest? Ultimately everyone makes their own decisions and, if they'll take a step back and really look at the situation, they'll find that every interest is a special interest in some form or another.
The ink wasn't even dry on this entry when one special interest started calling opposition to their specific interest a "special interest group". Here's the quote from an Associated Press news story about State Question 744 - “It’s really a shame that these special interest groups have decided to use scare tactics, to play politics with our children’s future,” said Walton Robinson, communications director for the Yes on 744 coalition. “Oklahoma’s kids deserve better.” While I'm all for teachers - my mother was a teacher and one of my sister-in-laws is a teacher - a group pushing to add $850 million plus to education at the expense of the rest of state government is clearly a "special interest group." Oh the irony...
