Welfare for DM&E should be condemned

The Mankato Free Press
January 09, 2006

There is plenty of concern about the cozy relationship between members of Congress and lobbyists.

It should be even more troubling when a lobbyist becomes a U.S. senator and then sneakily gives a former employer a golden opportunity to get billions of dollars in cheap loans.

That's what happened with U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota. Thune left the House in 2002 and began a campaign for Senate, a seat he won two years later. While campaigning, he was also a lobbyist for the Dakota Minnesota & Eastern Railroad, collecting $220,000 in fees from the South Dakota business.

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