What recession? Members of Congress "throwing lavish events"

WASHINGTON-The deepening economic recession hasn't stopped members of Congress from throwing lavish events to raise campaign money for the 2010 election.This weekend, donors to a political action committee run by Rep. Jeb Hensarling(picture left) are invited to the Snake River Lodge & Spa near Jackson Hole, Wyo., for a ski outing hosted by the Texas Republican. The minimum donation: $2,500, according to the invitation, which touts opportunities to take sleigh rides to an elk refuge and snowmobile excursions to the Continental Divide.Skiing also is on the agenda at a fundraiser this weekend in Vail, Colo., for Democrat Ed Perlmutter. Donations range from $2,400 for an individual to $5,000 for a political action committee.Donors seeking warmer climes could have joined veteran Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii for a "Weekend of Aloha" fundraiser at a resort on Honolulu's Waikiki Beach. Inouye's event, held last weekend, started two days after lawmakers passed President Obama's $787 billion plan aimed at jump-starting the economy. Lawmakers are on a week-long break and return Monday."Everyone is tightening their belts, but lawmakers are doing what they have always done: holding fundraisers in exotic locales," said Nancy Watzman, who tracks political fundraising events for the watchdog group Sunlight Foundation. "This is the kind of thing that's out of reach to most people, and it's pretty much hidden from the public."Aides to the lawmakers said the events are driven by the need to raise growing amounts of campaign money. House and Senate candidates raised nearly $1.4 billion to fund campaigns in 2008, up from roughly $1 billion eight years earlier, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics."Almost every member of Congress is fundraising all the time," said Julie DeWoody, the finance director of Perlmutter's campaign. "It's the reality of running for office and how expensive campaigns are."Perlmutter, a Colorado congressman in his second term, opted to host the ski weekend to give "supporters a different way to interact with him and have fun," DeWoody said. She would not say who planned to attend.

By Fredreka Schouten, USA TODAY

To read more go to:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-02-19-fundraising_N.htm

As in the days of Noah...