Senator resumes lobbyist huddles (Santorum)

[MH1]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11735612/

Senator resumes lobbyist huddles
Santorum suspended sessions Jan. 30

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Charles Babington

Updated: 12:36 a.m. ET March 9, 2006
After saying in January that he would end his regular meetings with lobbyists, Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.), the third-ranking GOP leader in the Senate, has continued to meet with many of the same lobbyists at the same time and on the same day of the week.

Santorum, whose ties to Washington lobbyists have been criticized by his Democratic challenger, suspended his biweekly encounters on Jan. 30. His decision came as Democrats named him as their top target in November's Senate races, and after the guilty plea of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff to charges of conspiring to corrupt public officials.

But in the month since his announcement, Santorum has held two meetings attended by the same core group of lobbyists, and has used the sessions to appeal for campaign aid, according to participants. Both of those meetings were convened at the same time as the previous meetings -- 8:30 a.m. -- on the same day of the week -- Tuesday -- and they lasted for about as long as the earlier meetings -- one hour.

Instead of being held in the Capitol, however, the recent meetings were conducted nearby. The first was held about three blocks away, at the headquarters of National Republican Senatorial Committee, and the second was held around the corner from that building, at the Heritage Foundation.

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[stepnw1f]

1. Fanatics of Greed and Power

Jesus Christ the devil's people are in power.

[Mithras61]

2. Now, y'see, that makes all the difference in the world, right there...

the meetings aren't in the capital any more, so now it's completely okay, and nothing more needs to be said about it! :sarcasm:

[AndyTiedye]

3. The Republicans Now Know Laws and Elections Cannot Touch Them

The law is whatever they say it is, and so are the election results.


We Make Democracy DIE!

[blue neen]

4. There's no amount of campaign aid that can help him now.

There's this little thing known as his VOTING RECORD for all of Pennsylvania to see. It's not pretty--voted with Bush 98% of the time.