The Center for Public Integrity reports that lobbyists provided Congress with over $50 million in trips between January 2000 and June 2005. The amount of time spent away from the office also comes to a staggering 81,000 days:

Over 5 1/2 years, Republican and Democratic lawmakers accepted nearly $50 million in trips, often to resorts and exclusive locales, from corporations and groups seeking legislative favors, according to the most comprehensive study to date on the subject of congressional travel.

From January 2000 through June 2005, House and Senate members and their aides were away from Washington for more than 81,000 days -- a combined 222 years -- on at least 23,000 trips, according to the report, issued yesterday by the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity. About 2,300 of the trips cost $5,000 or more, at least 500 cost $10,000 or more, and 16 cost $25,000 or more.

"While some of these trips might qualify as legitimate fact-finding missions," the study said, "the purpose of others is less clear." In addition, the lawmakers' financial reports that disclose the details of the trips are routinely riddled with mistakes and omissions.

Lawmakers and their staffers were treated to $25,000 corporate-jet rides and $500-a-night hotel rooms, the study showed. Lawmakers accepted thousands of costly jaunts -- one worth more than $30,000 -- to some of the world's choicest destinations: at least 200 trips to Paris, 150 to Hawaii and 140 to Italy.

"Congressional travelers gave speeches in Scotland, attended meetings in Australia and toured nuclear facilities in Spain," the study reported. "They pondered welfare reform in Scottsdale, Ariz., and the future of Social Security at a Colorado ski resort."

Make no mistake about it -- this travel and time away amounts to a significant portion of the job for our world travelers in Congress. With a total of 81,000 days on travel, that comes to over 150 days per member during the 66-month period. For every Congressman and Senator, that equals 27 days per year of lobbyist-paid travel, or almost a full month of supposed fact-finding.

The money also staggers. At $50 million, that means each member on average received over $93,000 in travel during the period under study, or approximately $17,000 each year. How much did you spend on your vacation last year? The most expensive vacation I ever took was our two-week trip to Ireland, which cost us somewhere in the neighborhood of $6,000 -- for the three of us. This would equate to having that trip three times a year, every year in office.

John Boehner gets identified as one of the major recipients of this largesse. Boehner won the position of Majority Leader after Tom Delay's resignation based on his support for moderate ethics reform, but he opposed the travel ban that some ethics hawks wanted to put in place. Boehner, as it turns out, had good reason to oppose it: he's taken more than 200 privately-financed trips. That comes to forty trips a year. When does he have time to be Majority Leader?

Boehner's spokesperson, Kevin Madden, noted that the trips allow Congress to get a better perspective on legislation and cost the taxpayers nothing. Well, that has its upside, I suppose, but in the age of the Internet and instant communications, I doubt that these "fact-finding" trips do much more than acquaint politicians with the needs of the people who have the money to fund these junkets. In the end, given all of the pork-barrel action that these trips support, it would cost the taxpayers one hell of a lot less to foot the bill for true fact-finding missions and ban any other funding for travel. It would also help to improve the reputation of Congress, which has sunk below that of used-car salesmen, personal-injury attorneys, and the White House.

The Washington Examiner agrees:

[T]he list of corporations, nonprofits and trade associations putting out the $50 million to pay for the 23,000 trips reads like a who’s who of recipients of multiple billions in federal contracts, grants, earmarks and other disbursements. The federal budget consumes a fifth or more of the nation’s annual economic activity, with the bulk of that spending directly influenced by members of Congress and indirectly by their top aides. So why is anybody surprised that the beneficiaries of federal largesse spend millions of dollars skating right up to and sometimes past the letter of the law in order to influence the decision-makers who hold the purse strings?

The solution is not more regulations and rules that require teams of lawyers to understand and which crafty lobbyists, congressional aides and other Washington insiders eventually find new ways to evade. The solution is to reduce the size and scope of government. Only then will there be significantly fewer special interests buying plane and hotel tickets for members of Congress and their staffs.

Reducing the scope of federal government means that Congress has less resources to give away to special interests. It kills both the supply and demand sides of the corruption market. No one wants to buy a politician who cannot put money in pockets. Perhaps we might even keep our poor representatives from the stress of travel that must wear them out. At the least, we can keep them from wearing out our pocketbooks without even the courtesy of a postcard from their lobbyist-funded resort travel.

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» Congress: livin’ the high life from Sister Toldjah
Trips, trips, everywhere, trips: Over 5 1/2 years, Republican and Democratic lawmakers accepted nearly $50 million in trips, often to resorts and exclusive locales, from corporations and groups seeking legislative favors, according to the most comprehe... [Read More]

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» Congress: livin’ the high life from Sister Toldjah
Trips, trips, everywhere, trips: Over 5 1/2 years, Republican and Democratic lawmakers accepted nearly $50 million in trips, often to resorts and exclusive locales, from corporations and groups seeking legislative favors, according to the most comprehe... [Read More]

Tracked on June 6, 2006 8:28 AM

» JUNKETS IN MY TRUNK from Word Around the Net
Becoming a Senator is an expensive proposition, but should be considered a sound investment. Not only does every Senator retire with a 7+ figure income, but there are plenty of benefits for both Senators and Representatives while in office. Captain Ed ... [Read More]

Tracked on June 6, 2006 12:04 PM