Intelligent Discontent

• Written by: PogieOctober 4th, 2007
• Comments:No Comment
• Category:Corruption, MT Politics, Senator for Saginaw Chippewas
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An old crook never goes away:

Former senator Conrad Burns of Montana is the latest example showing the loophole in the new ethics and lobbying reforms that were enacted last month.

A few days after the legislation became law, Burns strolled into the weekly Wednesday meeting of Senate conservatives in the Mansfield Room just a few steps off the chamber floor. Asked what he was doing there, Burns smiled and announced, "Lunch."

After losing his re-election bid last year, Burns signed up to work with Gage. That’s a lobbying firm on Capitol Hill founded by his former staffers, where Burns is not considered a lobbyist but is an adviser to a host of the firm’s clients, most of whom have a connection to the Big Sky state. The former senator must observe a one-year cooling-off period– the new law will extend it to two years starting in January — before he can represent clients before his old colleagues.