Sometimes a title just says it all: “Party Conventions Are Free-For-All for Influence Peddling,” says Public Citizen in an excellent new report issued today. If you are looking for a primer on the legal loopholes that allow lobbyists to keep paying and partying in Denver and the Twin Cities over the next few weeks, this is the place to go.

For example, it walks the reader through all the many exceptions of the new ethics law, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act. It’s not ok for a lobbyist to pay for a party honoring a particular lawmaker-but it is ok for a lobbyist to pay for a reception where lawmakers are invited, as long as they follow the infamous “toothpick rule,” under which you can’t sit down to eat a steak dinner, but you can stand up and eat a kobe beef meatball.

Public Citizen says that some of the parties we’ve listed here on Party Time may cross the line into illegality. For example, an AT&T reception at the Republican convention honoring the Republican Main Street Partnership.

Public Citizen, like Party Time, will be watching the party scene in Denver and the Twin Cities. We’ll keep you posted.

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