Nation & World
Freebies, Fat Cats, and a Very Busy Back Room
Every few years in Washington a new scandal blows up, and it usually involves lobbyists, lawmakers, money--and a well-heeled watering hole. Thus, it comes as small surprise that Jack Abramoff, a GOP superlobbyist now under investigation by a grand jury and two Senate committees, owns a restaurant called Signatures and that some lawmakers were not paying for fundraising events held there--until questioned by the press. Hill staffers say there may be other shenanigans involving lawmakers and lobbyists who frequent the restaurant/bar.
Located on Pennsylvania Avenue between Capitol Hill and the White House, Signatures has hosted more than 60 Republican fundraisers in the past three years--many in a dimly lit back room behind the sushi bar. One fundraiser, in June 2003, was for Illinois Rep. Dennis Hastert. This month, BusinessWeek Online reported that Hastert failed to pay for the fundraiser until a reporter began asking questions. The tab has since been paid by Hastert's political action committee and filed with the Federal Election Commission. Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, acknowledged that his campaign also failed to pay a Signatures fundraising tab from September 2003. Vitter said he had intended to pay but was never charged.
U.S. News has learned that some congressional staffers have asked lobbyists to leave their credit cards at Signatures so they could eat and drink on their tabs--sometimes even if the lobbyist wasn't there. Such actions could violate congressional ethics rules.
Abramoff also once owned a kosher deli, and he apparently wined and dined his pals at both joints. He'd take you to "the deli if you were not too important," an investigator joked, "and to the steakhouse if you were."
Not to Panic Over the Price at the Pump
Sure, the House passage of that big energy bill last week was a major win for President Bush, but his public optimism masked rising jitters among his advisers and a growing number of Republicans in Congress about high gas prices--and the very real prospect they'll go even higher. The danger for the Republicans, and for Bush, is that voters may soon connect the rise in gas prices to other economic problems like inflation and a jumpy stock market. Some GOP congressmen worry that Bush is too focused on Social Security, which they don't see as helping them. But there are no easy answers because even if the energy bill passes the Senate, it won't affect gas prices anytime soon.
A Case of Fiddling While Rome Burns?
Democratic strategists, confident that voters are increasingly fed up with the Republican establishment, are planning an all-out attack on what they call the "abuse of power" by Republicans, who control the House and Senate. The Democrats cite the troubles of House leader Tom DeLay, the planned Senate filibuster ban, and criticism of judges in the Terri Schiavo case as just some of the issues that could blow up in the face of congressional Republicans unwilling to deal with the increasingly dire problems of the economy. One man's abuse, of course, is just another's power politics.
With Danielle Knight and Kenneth T. Walsh Danielle Knight and Kenneth T. Walsh Danielle Knight and Kenneth T. Walsh
This story appears in the May 2, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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