As a lobbyist in 2003 and 2004 before winning a Senate seat from South Dakota, John Thune earned $220,000 from the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad, a small but ambitious company from his home state, the New York Times begins on Tuesday front pages, RAW STORY has learned.
Now, the railroad hopes to rebuild and rehabilitate 1,300 miles of track, and Thune, as an elected legislator, is working to make it happen.
In the aftermath of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, Congress has focused intensely on how to limit influence from the so-called revolving door, the procession of lawmakers and aides who leave Capitol Hill for K Street, the lobbyist's corridor. Thune sheds light on a less widespread practice -- "the reverse revolving door," some call it -- raising questions about whether restrictions should also be imposed on lobbyists who later get elected.
