The New York Times has an obituary up for Stephen Solarz, a former congressman from New York who "became a leading voice in the House on foreign affairs." The Times handles his post-congressional career as follows: "Mr. Solarz went on to work as a consultant and volunteer for nonprofit international organizations. He was a leader of the International Crisis Group, which works with governments and international organizations to quell deadly conflicts."
That just doesn't do justice to Solarz's post-congressional career. A quick search of the Foreign Agents Registration Act database of the Department of Justice indicates that Solarz was for years a registered, paid foreign agent of Turkey and Taiwan, and a search of the Senate lobbying database indicates he also registered as a paid lobbyist to advocate with his former House colleagues on a variety of issues.
Nothing against Solarz. I came across him on the foreign policy beat from time to time and he was always friendly, and both Taiwan and our NATO ally Turkey have long needed all the friends they could get in Washington (though Turkey today isn't what it once was). Even former congressmen need to earn a living somehow. Maybe Solarz did some consulting and volunteering in addition to his lobbying and paid foreign agenting. But to mention the nonprofit volunteering without mentioning the lobbying and paid foreign agenting just fails to reflect accurately the reality of the situation.
For those of us who think the "revolving door" aspect of Washington is a problem because it tempts lawmakers and regulators think of their next job rather than the public interest, it hurts the public discussion of the issue for the Times to downplay it in this way.
