Pass the Pork

In the wake of the Jack Abramoff scandal, the Boston Globe turned its spotlight on the lobbying industry this weekend. In Saturday's "Family Ties Spark Concern in Lobby Debate," Michael Kranish reports that at least 32 congressional family members now lobby Congress, including the son of House Speaker Dennis Hastert. And in Sunday's "Congressional Pet Projects Boom -- in Secret," Susan Milligan shows how the number of pet projects secretly inserted into the budget by Congress soared from 1,439 in 1995 to 13,997 last year, a new record. In wonderful detail, Milligan describes how many of the lobbyists pushing for these special earmarks, which cost taxpayers $27.3 billion last year, once worked for the congressmen they are now lobbying.