Lott To Leave Quickly To Beat Lobbying Ban

Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) will resign his seat by the end of the year, he announced in his home town of Pascagoula on Monday. The announcement took Capitol Hill by surprise because Lott, the former majority leader, seemed to be relishing his job as minority whip, the second-ranking GOP leadership job.

He had regained a post in leadership after he resigned following racially insensitive remarks at a birthday party for the late Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.).

A Lott friend said part of the reason, and a factor in the timing, is a new lobbying regulation, signed by President Bush in September, extending the existing lobbying ban for former members of Congress from one to two years. The lobbying ban takes effect at the end of this year. ...

Lott denied that the strict new rules prohibiting senators from lobbying for two years — which take effect on Dec. 31 — are causing him to jump ship now, as opposed to next year or at the end of his current term in 2012. ...

He admitted to being frustrated in the minority on Capitol Hill, saying that the divisive climate has made it “awfully tough” to craft bipartisan compromises on legislation .

LSB: There's no hope for the GOP to take control of the Senate in 2008 (and perhaps not for many more years, God willing), so Lott is jumping ship before those pesky lobbying bans ensnare him. Who does he think he's fooling by denying that? Is there any politico in Washington that thinks the American public has a brain? Why do they treat us like we can't see right through this ruse? Lott is just another politico looking for the gravy train after years of screwing the American people. If he doesn't get out now, there might be too many others that have decided "to retire" ahead of him that might cut into his take of the lobbying money. This last line, about the divisive climate making it difficult to craft bipartison compromises on legislation, is laughable. This turd wouldn't know bipartisan from his left nut! He and his ilk have contributed to the divisive climate, so this is just another attempt at rewriting his personal history of failure in the Senate. Good riddance to bad trash!