The Italian word for octopus is “la piovra,” but it is also the word used for the Mafia.

As a matter of fact, starting in 1984, Italian television had a long-running, very popular miniseries called “La Piovra” dealing with the Mafias’ organized crime, which extended its tentacles into all aspects of society, including the government.

Even today, the corrupt relationships still continue between politicians and the criminal organizations, paying for preferential treatment with regard to their business endeavors. Police investigations continue to uncover illegal payments to various individuals in all political parties, followed by prosecutions with trials resulting in prison sentences.

Such corruption!

Ah, but we have that here too. It’s called lobbying (“petitioning the government for redress of grievances”), and it’s perfectly legal.

There are about 20 registered lobbyists for every member of Congress, and that doesn’t include the countless other individuals who work within the system but are not required to register. They contribute huge sums of money on behalf of their clients (big businesses and organizations) in a very successful effort to get favorable treatment on particular issues.

Do we have any lobbyists representing us, the average folks? We may have a vote, but that doesn’t amount to very much.

Ask yourselves why legislation that the majority of Americans want never gets enacted or is watered-down. Later, when everyone’s attention is diverted to the more superficial issues, the sensational news and outrageous tweets, the lobbyists really go to work, further eroding any benefit to us, the 99 percent or “the unprotected,” as Steven Brill so aptly calls us in his book, “Tailspin.”

To find out how much your favorite politician is raking in, go toopensecrets.org and look under “contributions.”

Democracy has been corrupted! Viva la piovra!

Barbara L. Ricci,

Columbu