Guess Who's Coming to Dinner with Cardin?
Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland is listed as one of five hosts at Tuesday evening's fund-raising dinner at the Washington estate of Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV.
The event benefits the Democratic Senatorial Committee's "Majority Trust." It's one of several elite donor groups that allows givers, including lobbyists, to schmooze with senators. Both parties do this sort of thing all the time, by the way.
In this case, elbows will get rubbed and ears bent over cocktails and dinner at one of the capital's most remarkable locales: a mansion hidden away on a 22-acre patch of prime real estate adjoining Rock Creek Park.
All it takes to get in is $30,400 (actually, that's only a suggested contribution; perhaps non-lobbyists can get a discount). The invitation is at the Web site of the non-partisan Sunlight Foundation
, which promotes transparency in government and politics.
Comments
Paid lobbying should be illegal. Public financing is the only way to achieve a "best interests" legislature.
Posted by: NotableM | March 2, 2010 11:16 AM