Just remember to never call or write any of your elected officials, if you forget and make contact with them you become ne of the evil lobbyists.
Have you contacted one of your elected officials lately? I hope not, because then you are an evil lobbyist looking out for a special interest. You would never dare cast yourself in such a light, now would you?
Congress Finds Ways to Avoid Lobbyist Limits
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
New York Times
February 10, 2007
The 110th Congress opened with the passage of new rules intended to curb the influence of lobbyists by prohibiting them from treating lawmakers to meals, trips, stadium box seats or the discounted use of private jets.
But it did not take long for lawmakers to find ways to keep having lobbyist-financed fun.
In just the last two months, lawmakers invited lobbyists to help pay for a catalog of outings: lavish birthday parties in a lawmaker’s honor ($1,000 a lobbyist), martinis and margaritas at Washington restaurants (at least $1,000), a California wine-tasting tour (all donors welcome), hunting and fishing trips (typically $5,000), weekend golf tournaments ($2,500 and up), a Presidents’ Day weekend at Disney World ($5,000), parties in South Beach in Miami ($5,000), concerts by the Who or Bob Seger ($2,500 for two seats), and even Broadway shows like “Mary Poppins” and “The Drowsy Chaperone” (also $2,500 for two).
The lobbyists and their employers typically end up paying for the events, but within the new rules.
Instead of picking up the lawmaker’s tab, lobbyists pay a political fund-raising committee set up by the lawmaker. In turn, the committee pays the legislator’s way.
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http://www.calnurses.org/media-center/in-the-news/2007/february/page.jsp?itemID=29471804