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View Full Version : What Recession? Congressmen still throwing lavish fundraisers


Regis Philbin
Feb 20th, 2009, 04:49 PM
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-02-19-fundraising_N.htm

Lawmakers take fundraising to slopes

By Fredreka Schouten, USA TODAY

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 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.