17,000 free trips show how lobbyists flout congressional ethics rules

Politico.com - For more and to sign up click here In 2007, after one of the biggest scandals in K Street history, Congress cracked down on lobbyists’ ability to wine and dine lawmakers and aides with a host of reforms — including limits on extravagant, all-expenses-paid trips. In the nearly two decades since, the influence industry has blown a hole through those rules, according to a new analysis of House travel…