High Flying on Capitol Hill
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Flying Solo
More than $150,000 of your taxpayer dollars paid for a congressional trip in December that included no actual members of Congress.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Roll Call reports 14 staffers with the House Homeland Security Committee went on an eight day trip to Turkey, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. The bipartisan -- but primarily Democratic -- group's commercial airfare alone totaled almost $140,000.
Treasury Department reports show congressional foreign travel has tripled in the past decade, costing more than $110 million since 2001.
Illinois Republican Congressman Timothy Johnson has introduced a bill to curb travel and increase transparency -- quote -- "To have this unlimited spigot of money with no criteria or standards built into it... it's not dishonest, but it's not appropriate."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}You're Outta Here!
A federal judge in Seattle has ruled a gay softball league can keep its rule, limiting the number of heterosexual players on each team.
However, a trial will go forward regarding allegations by three bisexual players who say they were disqualified from a tournament because they were not gay enough.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}C'est Censored
And finally, French regulators say broadcasters cannot use promotional lines like "follow us on Twitter" or "find us on Facebook" on-air because they violate a ban on secret advertising.
A French blogger who once advised President Sarkozy on Internet policy lambasted that decision. He Tweeted -- quote -- "French regulation forbids TV networks to say Facebook or Twitter? My country is screwed."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Media experts are calling the ban out of touch.
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