The Free Rides Given To Democrats

The Democratic “Party of Corruption” continues: (h/t Sister Toldjah)

Congress? crackdown on lobbyist gifts and junkets hasn?t clipped the wings of several members of the Bay State delegation and their staffs, who flew free of charge this year on several purported business trips paid for by special-interest groups, a Herald review found.

These groups have shelled out nearly $17,000 this year to shuttle Bay State lawmakers, their wives and aides to meetings in vacation hot spots such as Fort Lauderdale, San Diego and a beachfront resort in Mexico, according to congressional travel documents.

[...]Rep. Edward Markey (D-Malden) landed the sweetest deal, escaping the January cold with his wife, Dr. Susan Blumenthal, to a resort in Punta Mita, Mexico. The nonprofit Aspen Institute footed the $7,800 bill for the couple?s all-inclusive week in the tropical vacation spot just south of Puerto Vallarta.

Several other members of Congress and their spouses made the trip with Markey and his wife, including Rep. Norman Dicks (D-Wash.), and California Democratic representatives George Miller, Sam Farr and Susan Davis.

[...]Rep. William Delahunt (D-Quincy) also escaped the winter doldrums, taking a weeklong, all-expenses-paid trip to San Diego in February courtesy of the German Marshall Fund, a nonprofit think tank. The group plunked down $1,575 for the congressman?s hotel, $1,181 for his flight and $384 for meals, congressional records show.

[...]Rep. Barney Frank (D-Newton) has taken three special-interest-funded junkets this year, including a four-day trip in February to Los Angeles paid for by the Retirement Housing Foundation and a two-day jaunt to Philadelphia funded by the National Constitutional Center. Frank also traveled to Fort Lauderdale for two days last month, courtesy of the Family Pride Coalition. The group is a nonprofit group of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender parents and families.

Springfield Democrat Richard Neal, meanwhile, took a two-day trip to Miami in January for a summit on estate planning. The $630 flight, hotel and meal tab was paid by megabank Wachovia Corp., records show.

Where’s the outrage Pelosi?