Why is Trent Lott leaving? To spend more time with his family? To return to his native Mississippi? Nope.
A Lott friend said part of the reason, and a factor in the timing, is a new lobbying regulation, signed by President Bush in September, extending the existing lobbying ban for former members of Congress from one to two years. The lobbying ban takes effect at the beginning of the year.
Ah, yes. A man who has spent much of his tenure in Congress making sure lobbyists have access to America’s politicians, and who benefited greatly in return, is how lining up for his turn at the trough. The idea that a politician would end his career in public service early just so he could fit in another year of growing rich by jockeying for special interests in kind of pathetic. But if Lott’s record with his son, also a lobbyist, is any indication, he’ll be successful enough at his new job to forget about his loss of integrity. From a 2006 Diddly Awards:
Chester Lott, the onetime Domino’s Pizza franchisee and polo player, tried his hand at lobbying for Edison Chouest Offshore, a firm that then happened to get a provision slipped into legislation by Chester’s dad, Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.). The fix allowed the company to earn $300 million by sidestepping a 1920 law.
Update: Oooh, Lott’s denying it.
