"We can't lock members up in a cubbyhole here in Washington and never let them see what's going on around the country and around the world," says Boehner, attempting to justify lobbyist-paid trips for congressmen.

"We can't lock members up in a cubbyhole here in Washington and never let them see what's going on around the country and around the world," says Boehner, attempting to justify lobbyist-paid trips for congressmen. These trips are apparently important enough that they have to be taken, but not so valuable that taxpayers will be willing to foot the bill. The truth is that congressmen are rarely as insulated from reality as when they take lobbyist-paid junkets. Boehner does not believe that lobbyists should be able to take congressmen out to expensive dinners, but is willing to countenance their taking them on vacations--doubtless because Republican congressmen are more wedded to their trips than to their meals. The fact that they want to keep this perk so badly suggests that it is, indeed, corrupting.