Senators have a tendency to be married to lobbyists. Tom Daschle’s wife, Linda Hall Daschle, is a major transportation lobbyist. Kent Conrad’s wife, Lucy Calutti, is a lobbyist for Major League Baseball. Byron Dorgan’s wife, Kimberly Dorgan, is the top lobbyist for the life insurance industry.
On the GOP side, Liddy Dole was a Republican senator while her husband, Bob Dole, was a lobbyist. Abby Blunt, wife of Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, is Kraft Foods’ top lobbyist.
Democrats, while pushing lobbying reforms in 2007, opposed a conservative measure that would have restricted spousal lobbying.
Dorgan, Conrad, and Daschle have left the upper chamber and joined their wives on K Street, of course. But still working for the people of Illinois is Dick Durbin, whose wife, Loretta, is a state lobbyist in Springfield.
Often, these Democratic senators blatantly pursued policies that directly benefitted their wives’ clients. Tom Daschle was a champion of the Export-Import Bank while his wife was lobbying for its top beneficiary, Boeing.
While Kimberly Dorgan’s industry fought fiercely to save the death tax — which forces people to buy more life insurance products — Byron Dorgan championed the tax (in populist terms, of course).
And Dick and Loretta Durbin? The Chicago Tribune has the story Monday:
Here’s an idea: Maybe senators’ wives shouldn’t be lobbyists.
