I think lobbyists do more than just talk. They provide promises of future employment, personal favors, sometimes for relatives of congressmen. Some congressmen also become corporate lobbyists when they have to or choose to leave office, using their positions as ex-congressmen to provide exceptional access that ordinary people almost never get, It's about as ethical as the relationship between Arthur Anderson and Enron was. We can't get rid of the job of congressmen, and expecting people who are elected to congress to have ethics is naive. Elimination of the lobbyists appears a more likely positive step.