Lobbyist on demand: For 5 bucks, company will nag your congressmember

Fox News ^ | June 28,2014 | Stephanie McNeal

[Hojczyk]

Want to harangue your member of Congress, but don't have the time to pick up the phone?

For $4.95, someone else will do it for you.

Welcome to the world of lobbyists on demand. A new company, called Amplifyd, is offering an inventive way for citizens to influence the policy debate -- for the nominal fee, the company will have a caller press the customer's issue of choice with a targeted lawmaker or official in Wash

Founder Scott Blankenship said the company is geared toward everyday Americans who currently “don’t really have an impact” in the capital.

“Corporations and these entities are having far too big of an influence,” he told FoxNews.com.

Whether policy-conscious Americans will take up the offer and use Amplifyd to push their pet issues remains to be seen.

But here's how it works. The company works with nonprofit groups, who set up “campaigns” for different causes and get a portion of the profit from the campaign. (The company and its callers get the rest of the money.)

For instance, The Endangered Species Coalition is currently running an Amplifyd campaign to lobby Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to maintain Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves. Individuals who are interested in the cause can pay $4.95 to have Amplifyd make the call to Jewell -- or Jewell's office -- on their behalf.

Another campaign encourages individuals to call on California lawmakers to change a loophole in existing law that allows used cars to be sold with un-addressed safety recall issues.

The idea is the more calls that are bought, the more pressure will be applied. Though many of the current campaigns are for left-leaning causes, Blankenship says his company is non-partisan.

[AlexW]

What is this? Dial a Commie? One would be better off to “Dial a Prayer”. At this point, only God can save America.

[Wolfie]

Please. All they’ll do is harangue a low level staff member. If you want to reach a congress critter you need a big stash of “free speech” to donate to their campaign war chest.

[cripplecreek]

I’ve spoken to my congressman on several occasions and even had him show up at my house. I’ve given maybe $50 for his election over about 12 years.

[napscoordinator]

lol. I cannot believe that this is not satire. Just has to be. To be honest, this is just another example of laziness in America amongst the masses (of course we are exempt....lol).