Over 620 White House Aids Took Trips Paid For By Lobbyists

Companies lobbying government, colleges seeking star speakers and groups eager for information or face time paid for $2.3 million in trips over six years for White House officials, a watchdog organization reported Wednesday.

Powerful presidential confidants, like President Bush's political guru, Karl Rove, and President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, shared in this bounty.

More than 620 White House aides took free trips between late 1998 and late 2004 to speak to conferences in Paris, Rome and other foreign capitals, Hawaii and Florida, ski resorts in Colorado and Switzerland. Of course, less exotic locales, like Detroit, Cleveland and Oklahoma City, also were among more than 350 destinations.

"These trips are often indirect conduits to influence policy," Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, another private watchdog group, told the center.

The center found:

A third of the trips were paid for by entities registered to lobby the federal government. In all, White House officials accepted free travel from 216 companies and organizations that reported spending more than $1.1 billion lobbying between 1998 and 2004.

abcnews.go.com...
Center For Public Integrity's Study:
www.publicintegrity.org...

These findings just reinforce my opinion that we indeed live under a kleptocracy beholden to special interests, for as time goes by, only the players change, but the wrongs remain the same along with the same old duplicitous, self-aggrandizing, opportunistic characters it attracts. At this point I know it would take a miraculously noble & firm arm to thoroughly uproot a problem so systemic, but one can dream.

[edit on 1-12-2005 by Vajrayana]

It's wrong but who wouldn't go on vacation on some other dudes expense? Whenever i hear the words FREE DVD i get excited.

I am sure this is just the tip of the iceberg. The trouble with having these lobbyists and lobbying companies is that as soon as any government representative accepts 1 Dollar (or Pound or Euro etc...), they cease to represent the people.
Anyone working in government should be made to relinquish ALL outside financial interests and associations. If they are really so keen to serve the people, they should accept nothing more than the stated salary for that job and be open to scrutiny by the people.

After all, it's OUR money they are handling and passing to favoured corporations in return for kickbacks, be they "Campaign Funds" (hahaha...the favourite form of kickback) or money in a secret Cayman account.

I'm sure every 'conservative' that every mustered the brazen irony to utter the words "travel" and "gate" together is now ready to call for the resignation of the entire Bush administration and apologize to Al Gore. Because integrity is important to right wingers.

I actually thought that's just what they do. It is shocking to read when put like that though.

Originally posted by RANT
I'm sure every 'conservative' that every mustered the brazen irony to utter the words "travel" and "gate" together is now ready to call for the resignation of the entire Bush administration and apologize to Al Gore. Because integrity is important to right wingers.

Your talking on behalf of the "liberal" left wing, and yet the hypocrisy of this has not struck your senses? Hilariously, you asserted that integrity is important to those "right wingers", being that at one time not so far back in the past, "integrity" meant a great deal to the "liberal" left wing. The real "brazen irony", is that "integrity" has no meaning to them anymore, and yet they, like you, continue to throw out the importance of "intergrity" to those 'conservative' "right wingers"? Wha?

Oh please, stop. I am dying with laughter here to see and read such hypocritical lunacy.

Two words: ...Kettle Black.






seekerof

Actually they are just been prep up for their future . . . see most lobbyist are often former white house personnel including former politicians.

So Hey . . . they are given a taste of things to come after transition.

Lobbying is one of the most high pay jobs right now in politics, and one that have an incredible amount of costumers. with Billions to spread around depending of your particular specialty.