Ethan Hastert Enters the Family Business

Ethan Hastert has declared for his father’s old congressional seat in Illinois. He sounds plausible enough. But there’s a problem, and that problem is the family’s financial history.

Ethan Hastert has declared for his father’s old congressional seat in Illinois. You can hear an interview with the 31-year-old attorney here. He sounds plausible enough. But there’s a problem, and that problem is the family’s financial history. Former Republican speaker Dennis Hastert scored a profit of $2 million in 2006 by selling land he had purchased only 3 years before. The land’s value had tripled in that short interval because of the announcement of a new highway – a highway that Hastert had used his power as speaker to earmark. Ethan’s brother Joshua works at a lobbying firm started by a long-time associate of his father’s, Daniel Mattoon. Clients include Google. Ethan started his lobbying career at age 27, shortly after his father won the speakership. The NY Times had this to say about his hiring:

With a pierced tongue, a goatee and previous employment as the owner of a record store and label called Seven Dead Arson, the young man is not a typical buttoned-down Washington lobbyist. But Joshua Hastert, 27, does have something increasingly common in lobbying circles -- family ties to a Congressional leader. … David Miller, a principal in the lobbying firm who brought in Mr. Hastert, said he was impressed by Mr. Hastert's approach to issues. He also said Mr. Hastert was not one to trade on his family name.

The fact that he is the speaker's son was certainly a factor, but he's really cool,'' Mr. Miller said.

Ethan Hastert worked as a White House staffer, then joined a law firm in Elburn, Illinois. I’m sure he’s an upstanding person, and obviously name ID helps in politics. Still if the prevailing theory among congressional Republicans for the defeats of 2006 and 2008 is that the GOP got too cozy in Washington… shouldn’t we be looking for candidates with a history that looks a little less cozy?