Most law is of the weed-ish variety . . .

I'm glad the City Paper is "covering" the issue of family members' lobbying influence on family members in the Exec. and Leg. branches. ("Same family lobbyists, lawmakers try to avoid conflicts"). Here's the opening line of the piece:

"Family roots often run deep, but on Capitol Hill, lobbyists and lawmakers who are related say those roots are pretty shallow when the two roles intermix."

The problem with coverage of this issue is that most laws seed, mature and reseed in that "shallow" ground. Of course legislators (typically speaking) wouldn't be stupid enough to cast votes on high-profile issues for which their relative lobbied them. And the fact that someone is sitting in the room during a vote or that a legislator casts a recorded, public move (e.g., a vote) on an issue isn't the point either. Lobbying is generally about access and influence . . . family members in the profession have too much of either to avoid appearances of impropriety, it seems.