Mullings: An American Cyber-column By Rich Galen

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Be Careful What You Wish For

Rich Galen

Wednesday April 27, 2005

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From RFK Stadium
Washington, DC

House Democrats have been skipping down the marble hallways with glee over the coverage being dumped on Tom DeLay for his many and varied trips all of which are paid for by others.

This type of trip used to be called "taking a junket." Now it's called "taking a DeLay."

To read the popular press and to watch the cable chat shows, you would think that Tom DeLay invented the concept of the high-value all-expenses-paid journey.

He didn't.

In fact, according to yesterday's Jim Drinkard piece in USA Today, Mr. DeLay is something of a piker when it comes to Congressional travel. He ranks only 114th among his well-traveled colleagues in the number of trips he has taken.

The general rule regarding travel in the US House forbids members and staff from taking trips paid for directly by lobbyists.

They are, however, allowed to travel if the tab is picked up by outfits like foundations or non-profit organizations.

The problem occurs when a foundation - let's call it the "Mullings Foundation for Better Access to Government Officials" decides that it is in the public's interest to lead a trip to, say, Scotland with selected government officials.

And let's say those selected government officials (a) happen to have an interest in Internet advertising (just, coincidentally, as does the Mullings Foundation), and (b) have an interest in golf.

As we're going to Scotland - hotbed of the latest in Internet thought - anyway, we might as well schedule a day of discussions at St. Andrews. Because we want this to be an interactive experience, the day will include discussions in small groups - foursomes might be about the right size.

If the Mullings Foundation paid for a trip such as this, and the individual Members of Congress and their staffs reported it, all this would be perfectly within the rules.

Unless the Mullings Foundation found about $100,000 in a pot in the garage at Mullings Central, or unless a similar amount fell out of the sky, it stands to reason that someone had to donate the money to the Mullings Foundation so that the Mullings Foundation could buy the airline tickets, pay for meals and hotel rooms, and pay for the greens fees - uh, conference facilities - at St. Andrews.

According to Drinkard's piece the rules "require lawmakers to try to find out and disclose who is paying for their trips."

This requirement is known, at St. Andrews, as "blowing wind up your kilts."

The interest generated in DeLay's travel has caused a run on fine-toothed combs for use by reporters and political operatives in going over those disclosure forms.

According to a front pager in the Washington Post by Mike Allen, Members and their staffs are suddenly remembering all manner of travel, meals, fundraisers, sporting events, and cotillions they had previous forgotten to report.

An aide to Nancy Pelosi said he "did not know" he was supposed to report a $9,087 trip, but Democrats and Republicans appear to have been equally unenthusiastic about these disclosures.

By allowing the press to focus on DeLay's travel, Representatives have turned the spotlight on their own travel. Be careful what you wish for.

An answer to this national crisis might be to simply forbid any travel not paid for out of official funds.

This would have several excellent effects: First, it would stop the fiction that people with an interest in legislation who pay to take legislators or their staffs on expensive trips are not trying to curry official -

[At this exact point last night, at 8:29 pm in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Nationals' Brad Wilkerson smacked a two-run homer against the Phillies to the delight of everyone in Section 112.]

- curry official favor. Second, Members of Congress being the cheap you-know-whats that they are, would refuse to allow their staffs to travel on the taxpayers' dime. Third, traveling less, the Members might actually spend more time in Washington working on legislation.

Oh. Wait. I'd better be careful what I wish for.

On the Secret Decoder Ring page today: Links to the USA Today and WashPost pieces. An apt Mullfoto from New York City yesterday, and a Catchy Caption of the Day.

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