Monday, February 26, 2007

House's travel rules

USAToday reported Lawmakers have continued to take trips paid for by outside groups since the House voted last month to restrict who can pay for such travel. House travel records show that 19 members since Jan. 5 have accepted airfare, meals and lodging from special interests, including groups that employ lobbyists. The records were compiled by the non-partisan PoliticalMoneyLine. The trips demonstrate that lawmakers "are trying to see what they are going to get away with," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the liberal-leaning watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

They think the new rules they passed were just for show, and they were not meant to really be followed.
.... Brendan Daly, spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the effective date of the travel rule was postponed to give the House ethics committee time to devise new guidelines.
But they did not mention that when they were crowing about passing the new rules.

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