The Washington Post offers this report. See also Lobbyist Turns Senator But Twists Same Arms in the NY Times, which begins: “It might be said that Senator John Thune went through the revolving door — backward. As a lobbyist in 2003 and 2004, Mr. Thune earned $220,000 from the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad, a small but ambitious company in South Dakota. The railroad hopes to rebuild and rehabilitate 1,300 miles of track, the nation’s largest proposed railroad expansion in more than a century. Now, as a junior senator from South Dakota, Mr. Thune is working to make that happen, raising questions about whether there should be curbs on lobbyists-turned-lawmakers in the same way that there are on those who take the more traditional route of leaving Capitol Hill for K Street.” The LA Times offers States Offer Grim Look at Curbing Corruption; Many have rules that Congress is considering. But scandals underscore the difficulty of policing ethics, even with independent oversight.