Congressional Ethics

There is an interesting article today in the Washington Post. All this blather from the dems about how they were going to clean up the ethical mess left by the Republicans in Congress has resulted in a new set of laws regarding lobbyists and free meals and such, but as one might expect, there are "loopholes". For example, lobbyists can't take Congressmen to fancy dinners and ply them with liquor anymore. At a recent gala, however, over 100 congressional types attended a dinner at a cost of over $2500 per. How did this happen? Well, a charity sells the tickets to the lobbyists at a rate of say $25,000 per table and the corporation which buys the tickets with a wink and a nod tells the charity who they would like to have sit at their table. The charity makes the decision, of course, so it is perfectly legal for the exact Congressman to be assigned at the table where the request was made. Nobody is against charity, are they?

Read it all here if your stomach is strong.