Friday, August 01, 2003

Politics Why Congressmen Want To Be Lobbyists

This past November, there was a nice little retirement party for Rep. Bob Borski, D-Pa., and a few other departing members of the House Transportation Committee. Borski had represented Philadelphia in Congress for 20 years. The going-away fete was held in the Transportation Committee room. In attendance were staff members for both the committee and the House representatives who sat on it; the members themselves; representatives of the transportation industry; and one U.S. senator, Arlen Specter, R-Pa. Warm memories were shared about Borski's years of public service. After awhile, the die-hards drifted back to Borski's office in the Rayburn building to savor the view of the Capitol and listen to a record of "My Way" sung by Frank Sinatra. "It was not a big, fancy, quartet-in-the-corner kind of thing," recalls Andrea Whiting, who was Borski's chief of staff.
· Tauzin and Bono were sort of kidding, and sort of not. [ Slate]