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Steak dinners, expensive golf outings, trips to paradise...the 'fringe benefits' of attracting donors.  AlJazeera America reported today on the expense statements of our elected officials, from both sides of the aisle, and the results aren't really all that surprising.

Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, who has lamented the widening income gap that separates rich and poor and has been a forceful advocate for a minimum wage hike, spent $91,000 in 2013 for a getaway at Dorado Beach Club, a luxury resort in Puerto Rico known for its championship golf courses and plantation-style residences.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va. put his political contributors in a giving mood, his PAC, Every Republican Is Crucial, spent $2,300 on “golf fees” and “golf items” through 2013, in addition to the $26,000 the organization expended on a single fundraiser at the luxury golf resort Creighton Farms in northern Virginia. Add that to spending $54,000 at BLT Steakhouse in Washington last year and another $5,000 at Bobby Van’s, a favorite haunt of D.C. lobbyists, and the picture begins to fill out.

It makes you wonder, just what exactly does $54,000 worth of steak buy a Congressman these days?

For the full article, click here: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/2/27/the-fabulous-lifeofyouruslegislator.html