Loopholes in Ethics Law? Nooo....

While it is impossible to form any kind of campaign/lobbyist law that is perfect in preventing their "undue influence" (the New York Times words, not mine) on members of Congress, it can definitely still be fun to look at the flaws and loopholes later and criticize them. In this case the 2007 Honest Leadership and Open Government act has created a few - former Senator John Breaux notes that it is not legal for him to buy a $20 meal for an old friend, but he is allowed to give a $1000 campaign contribution, and members and/or staff can accept cups of coffee but not hot dogs...depending on the occasion. Personally I think that certain restrictions on lobbyists are a good thing, but everybody should always be able to accept a hot dog. That's just un-American.