Bill Ackman: A case study in the dark side of lobbying

I worked on Capitol Hill for years and now am working in the private sector. As a staffer, I interacted with lobbyists on a daily basis. Many times, they came in to lobby for help in reducing regulations, lowering taxes, or passing legislation that makes sense for markets.

There were other lobbying meetings I had that gave me a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, because these lobbyists came into the office to push for action that clearly would help their client to the detriment of other companies.