Judy Sarasohn of The Washington Post reports that Chester Lott Jr., the son of Sen. Trent “I’ve been around here long enough to know how to bury it” Lott, has some new lobbying clients. Lott fils has been a registered lobbyist since April 15, 2001, first with the firm of Lott & Hopkins LLC, then with Lott & Associates.

Looking over some of the filings, I found this description of his lobbying activities provided on the Soil Safe filing from January 2006 rather interesting:

Introductions to business and governmental leaders.

(The same language also making appears on the R.J. Corman Railroad Group filing.)

This is one area I’d like to look at more broadly: The extent to which members of Congress make their jobs a family business. There’s plenty of anecdotal information (this old New York Times story has some), but to the best of my knowledge there hasn’t been a systematic study. That’s a shame. As a former boss of mine noted in that Times piece of the practice,

“It is the smarminess and incestuousness that is most objectionable,” said Charles Lewis, the director of the Center for Public Integrity. “It blurs the distinction between the public and private sector when part of the family is in the private sector enriching themselves through the public sector.”

Absolutely.