Beverly Hills is not in Virginia. Perhaps you know this already. It's actually in a state called California, and it's located just to the south of Hollywood.
Beverly Hills is not in Virginia. Perhaps you know this already. It's actually in a state called California, and it's located just to the south of Hollywood.
Within the aforementioned Beverly Hills is what's called "The Beverly Hills Hotel & Bungalow," a "luxury, five-star hotel, located on Sunset Boulevard... a place to see and be seen." With rooms starting at $555 a night, needless to say it's pretty spectacular.
And our boy, 7th District Rep. Eric Cantor had one hell of a month there almost exactly two years ago. Between September 7 and October 3, 2005, he spent $42,266 dollars there.
But before you think this may be a one-time deal, think again. The talk on the street is that this is an annual gig that he runs as a fund-raiser (and a get-away from the state he's supposed to represent). It also gives him a good opportunity to sample Wolfgang Puck's restaurant Spago.
Why do he and other congressmen do this? Simple. They bring donors out to some of the most gorgeous places in the country (or out of it) to butter them up and persuade them to open their wallets just a little wider. This article from 2005 in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer gives a great overview of the racket congressmen like Oxley (OH), Boehner (OH), Blunt (MO), DeLay (TX), and Cantor (VA?) have been up to, using up to half of their PAC donations on operating expenses. It does cite the enormous percentage of donations on spent operating expenses by Democrats like Sens. Clinton and Kennedy, but the article makes clear what they use the money for: mailers, staff, and criss-crossing the country to other candidates' fundraisers.
The new rules have forced Republicans to finagle a new way to keep their wining and dining above-board. Before the 110th Congress, lobbyists could fly congressmen around in their private jets, set them up with prime tee-times in Scotland, give them free tours of "burgeoning capitalism" in the North Marianas, etc. But those damn Democrats changed the rules to where they could no longer take bribes gifts anymore, and they had to pay for their own flights. That's why the Republicans set up the new racket: lobbyists donate to PACs (like Cantor's EricPAC), reps spend the donations on fundraising excursions, and those same lobbyists bundle together even more donations and get a nice, relaxing vacation in Beverly Hills out of it. (You didn't think they were going to give up their posh vacations, did you?!) And all the while, democracy slips farther and farther out of our grasp.
This is where Eric Cantor is a large part of the time, places like the Beverly Hills Hotel and The Mondrian Hotel, Hollywood ($19,795), The Little Nell, Aspen, Colorado ($31,257), The Ritz Carlton Miami ($23,500), and Nobu Restaurant Miami ($18,057). And of course, the now-defunct deli Stacks, owned by one Mr. Jack Abramoff ($13,000).
So if you're wondering where Eric Cantor is, you might want to try one of those places. He'll likely be the one hanging out with all those Hollywood elites.