Special interests are the American boogeyman. They are used as political ammunition by both the right and left and everyone agrees that they are a danger to our democracy because the priorities of these "special interests", rather than the public well-being, set the political agenda in Washington.

However, special interests are not the problem. Every citizen has their own special interests. (Mine, for example, include opposition of the Iraq war, support of green energy alternatives, an irrational revulsion towards plastic packaging, and celebrity gossip blogs). No, the problem is not that special interests exist. The problem is that some special