Democrats vowed to change the culture in Washington. And while their ethics reforms were criticized by clean-government advocates for not going far enough, they’re tried to take credit for ‘draining the swamp’ anyway. How will they do that now though, considering that even with the additional ethics restrictions they’ve enacted, lobbyists are paying more for travel by Members and staff than in 2006 when Republicans controlled Congress:
Despite new House travel restrictions, lawmakers accepted free trips worth nearly $1.9 million during the first eight months of this year – more than in all of 2006, records show. The increase in travel spending needs to be monitored closely, say watchdog groups that fear Congress may return to business as usual after corruption investigations landed some lawmakers in prison. “There’s a realization that these trips and meals are getting extra scrutiny,” says Meredith McGehee of the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center, which supported the reforms. “That will last for a while, but we know it won’t last forever. The ethos of politics is, ‘What can we get away with?’ “… But there was a spike in travel expenses in August, when lawmakers took 85 trips worth $828,808 – the highest since August 2003. August is typically a high travel month because Congress is in recess. The number of trips fell from 588 in the first eight months of 2006 to 337 over that time period this year, but the cost of them doubled. Senators accounted for only $130,000 of the travel.
In a second piece on Congressional travel, USA Today makes it clear that many of those taking advantage of travel opportunities are Democrats:
The Michigan Democrat [Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick] stayed overnight at the Gaylord Palms Resort near Orlando. Her trip was one of 30 trips taken by lawmakers this year under an exemption in the new House travel rules that allows for one- or two-night stays sponsored by companies that employ lobbyists. Most of the trips were to resort areas, including eight to Florida and three to Las Vegas. In all, 22 House Democrats and three Republicans accepted nearly $40,000 in travel under that exemption, according to reports filed with the House ethics committee. Kilpatrick and an aide accepted $2,500 worth of airline tickets, ground transportation, lodging and meals from DaVita, records show.
Public perceptions notwithstanding, lobbyists often find that it can be hard to convince Members to accept free travel. Therefore, they go to great lengths to make a trip hard to refuse. If trips overall are down, but costs have risen significantly, it might be a sign that lobbyists are loading trips with frills and extras to entice elected officials to attend. Whatever the reason, it’s just another indication that not much has changed since Democrats took over Congress.
