It's been called a Congressional Junket. There are rules about how much complementary money can be accepted from the lobbyists who sponsor a junket. But they are usually very lavish trips with some ostensible stated purpose, in which the Congressmen spend nominal time discussing and the vast majority of the time playing. This is the case for some 39 Democratic members of Congress, their staffs and their families who are the guests in Puerto Rico of 109 lobbyists from R.J. Reynolds (the tobacco company), Facebook, Comcast, Amazon, PhRMA, Microsoft, Intel, Verizon, the National Education Association, and others, according to the Washington Examiner. The optics at this time appear hypocritical.
Fox News reports that the Democratic Party junket "
comes amid the ongoing partial government shutdown that has left around 800,000 federal workers with no pay since it began Dec. 22, making it the longest government closure in US history." Meantime, Democratic Party leadership is hammering President Donald Trump about the impact of the shutdown on those not receiving paychecks, and the ultimate impact long-term on the economy. When junkets like these, and there are probably more going on attended by members of both parties, cost aplenty with chartered jets and high-end hotel rooms and meals, it's difficult for Americans to accept the sincerity of the party line-if only all of it were reported by the media.
Meantime, the "party line" is trying to keep quiet on who exactly is attending this junket. A Twitter link by freelance writer David McAlpine, however, shows a picture of Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in a bathing suit talking to a bikini-clad woman on the beach in Puerto Rico. McAlpine also posted a 2013 Daily Mail headline by reporter James Nye stating "Senator Bob Menendez only 'likes the youngest and newest girls' says Dominican prostitute who 'attended alleged sex parties with him'." While Menendez has been the target of many corruption and ethical stories and investigations, his behavior is also associated with what happens during junkets by members of both parties.
It's likely, but no sure bet, that no taxpayer money is being spent on this, but taxpayers do pay the salaries of these elected representatives and their staffs attending. Taxpayers also must endure the votes cast in favor of big tobacco (while Democrats rail against the entire industry), big pharma (what's the real deal with socialist medicine?), and high tech companies that use their networks to influence voters toward extreme "progressive" (socialist/communist) ideologies-not to mention the National Education Association's leftist agenda with America's children. So a peek behind the scenes of the "life threatening" government shutdown reveals much. It's similar to what Ezekiel saw in Ezekiel 8:9 when the Lord told him to dig into the wall of the sanctuary, "and behold the wicked abominations they do there." It's just not right.
