In a city where no issue is too small for a big debate, official Washington is grappling with what's become widely known as the toothpick rule. It allows lobbyists to provide free food to members of Congress at receptions, but only if the morsels fit comfortably on a toothpick. That means no pizza or hot dogs. ...This stand-up routine is suddenly getting very serious: Lobbyists who violate the new ethics law, which took effect on Sept. 14, can receive a five-year prison sentence and a $200,000 fine, a quadrupling of the old maximum penalty. ...
Yeah, sure. But there are demons at work, determined to destroy democracy and freedom. Among their evasive tactics:
"We were joking around here one day, saying, well, what about pigs in a blanket, or what about caviar, which is really not of nominal value?"...
The American Meat Institute intends to serve full-sized hot dogs, corn dogs and sausages, along with all of the traditional fixings, at this summer's National Hot Dog Day on Capitol Hill ...National Hot Dog Day is "a widely attended event," not a reception, and as a result it's legal to serve full-sized hot dogs.
