Speaking of babysitting, this piece by Ken Silverstein in Harper’s March 2008 edition is a must read for background on how lawmakers use their campaign funds to pay for all sorts of costs associated with partying—including, yes, babysitting:

As for babysitting, the congressman [Rep. Jim McCrery (R-LA)] said that he had asked the FEC for an opinion about that matter, and he had been assured it was appropriate. “We don’t use it often, but we have occasionally,” he told me, adding that he usually paid $100 “if the person comes in and spends the night.” The 2007 tab for $300 was for babysitting when he and his wife were away for a few days at a Republican retreat—at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa and Marina.

So let me understand this correctly. If I were a congressional candidate, I could use the campaign money I got from donors—which in McCrery’s case include folks working for the Blackstone Group, General Electric, and New York Life Insturance–and pay for babysitting while I went a played golf on the Chesapeake Bay? Maybe I should reconsider my political career. Except rather than golfing, I’d like to go skiing. Or mountain biking.