Congress may be out of session, but the flow of inside-the-beltway money continues.

Thus far we have counted 470 invitations to fundraisers from Sept. 1 through the end of this week, according to invitations received by Party Time, the great majority of them in Washington, D.C. There are at least three dozen parties scheduled this week; to see all upcoming events, click here.

The spotlight this week is on two veteran West Coast senators in danger of losing their seats:

On Thursday, Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., gets an assist from House Transportation Committee Chair Jim Oberstar, D-Minn. Donations go to a joint fundraising committee called Boxer/Oberstar 2010, one of a few such committees Boxer has set up, according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Proceeds of these committees must go to at least two political committees or organizations. Alcalde & Fey lobbyist Paul Schlesinger, one of the hosts of the event, is a transportation and infrastructure specialist who lobbies for a slew of California cities.

On Wednesday, Patty Murray, D-Wash., whose race with Republican Dino Rossi is a toss-up, according to the Cook Political Report, is being honored at the Embassy Row home of longtime Democratic donor Esther Coopersmith, a former U.S. representative to the United Nations under President Carter who, according to The Hill, has met every president since Harry Truman. The ask runs between $250 and $2,500.

Here are highlights from the lineup for the rest of the week:

*Today: Former congressman Mike Fitzpatrick, running for his seat back against young Democratic leader Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., in the Philadelphia suburbs, planned a roundtable discussion and lunch fundraiser in New York City, headlined by Financial Services ranking member Spencer Bachus, R-Ala. Recent polling shows Fitzpatrick with a double-digit lead over Murphy, who helps run the DCCC’s Red-to-Blue program.

*Today: Another challenger, Ben Quayle, gunning to represent Arizona’s third district, has planned to milk DC donors at Johnny’s Half Shell. Quayle narrowly got by a packed primary field but the seat is likely his, according to the Cook Political Report. He faces John Hulburd, who he has significantly out-raised, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

*Wednesday: Rep. Chris Carney, D-Pa., in potential trouble against Tom Marino despite raising much more money than him, tries to keep the green coming, asking PACs to contribute as much as $5,000 for lunch at Johnny’s Half Shell.

*Thursday:  Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, has signed on to $500-per-PAC Capitol Hill fundraiser in support of Jason Levesque, a Maine Republican and marketing company owner with a chance to unseat four-term incumbent Mike Michaud, D-Maine.

There’s still time to “be one of the first to experience the new laser technology at the NRA,” by signing up for Rep. Chris Carney’s “New Laser Shoot Out” fundraiser today at the gun rights’ group Capitol Hill offices at 5:30 p.m.

Blue Dog Democrat Carney hails from Pennsylvania’s 10th district, in Northeastern Pennsylvania, where voters have the reputation of being fond of their guns. (Remember the much ballyhooed flack then-presidential candidate Barack Obama got when he said that small town Pennsylvanians “cling to guns.”)

While the NRA has given Carney $2,000 in direct PAC contributions, $1,000 apiece for the 2008 and 2010 cycles, the group backed his GOP opponent during his first race in 2006.

Carney has tried hard to burnish to woo pro-gun rights voters, pointing out he’s a gun owner himself and that he supports the rights of hunters.