Lobbyists go before government bodies, such as the legislature, to represent special interest groups. They schmooze politicians and work to understand the personalities of their supporters and enemies, all to protect their special interest groups from laws that might hurt them. They carefully watch all bills and amendments that are introduced to make sure that nothing will have a negative impact on their clients' interests. In short, a paid lobbyist knows how the government operates much better than a freshman legislator does.

A good lobbyist can

• Get a bill killed.
• Amend a bill to make it more acceptable for their interest group.
• Amend a bill to make it unacceptable to legislators.
• Form alliances with other interest groups to pass or defeat a bill.

A great example of how lobbyists can ban together involves representatives of engineering firms, asphalt paving companies, concrete companies, and trucking companies, all of whom are ordinarily pro-business and anti-taxes, but with one huge exception.

These groups regularly band together to urge the government to increase gas taxes to generate more money for road and bridge construction. That way, they support the good public policy of improving our nation's highways but generate more money for themselves at the same time.