Travel Ethics

A story on usatoday.com this morning discusses a new ethics rule in the U.S. House of Representatives restricting lobbyist-funded travel for lawmakers. Sounds like a good thing, right?

Unfortunately, the plan exempts trips paid for by colleges and universities. The story notes that such higher-education groups are a powerful lobbying force, and have spent nearly a million dollars on travel for lawmakers since 2000. Here's one example...

Recent travel included an overnight stay by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., in November at a villa in Florence, Italy, owned by New York University. NYU did not pay for Kennedy's air travel, but it provided about $1,500 in car-service fees.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-07-colleges-lawmakers-travel_N.htm

Ethics rules such as this should apply to everyone equally. The fact that they don't is an outrage.