With the Democrats taking over the House and Senate, it looks like there's a new sheriff in town. Some you may recall a littls scandal around Jack Abramoff (AKA the Hamburglar) which brought to light for about 3 seconds the largesse afforded to our elected representatives in Washington, D.C. The CYA backlash in DC included ethics proposals limiting the amount that could be spent on free lunches for politicians and their staff. The legal limit had been $50 for a lunch. The proposed changes would have brought the limit down considerably...
Trent Lott's (R- MS) response to some of the proposed ethics changes:
"...it is outrageous," Lott said. "I mean, now we're going to say you can't have a meal for more than 20 bucks. Where you going to -- to McDonalds?"
Of course Trent could choose to eat wherever he pleases, but then he'd have to pay for it on his meager Senate salary of $183,500 a year. So on the crazy chance that the Dems will opt to limit themselves to an "outrageous" $20 free lunch per day, where are they going to eat?
As Trent so helpfully pointed out, McDonalds is indeed one option, in fact you could get a veritable feast there for $20. But is there any where else in this town where you could get a decent lunch for under $20? Is this the fate of our humble leaders?
Has the hamburglar ruined lunches for Congress?
I personnally think that the free lunch in Washington is here to stay, the enjoyment of kickbacks is one thing that both parties could agree on. So if you had a queue of lobbyists lining up to spend $50 on you for lunch every day, where would you go? What would you eat when they sky was the limit? Is there such a thing as a "free $50 lunch from a lobbyist"?
And what's for lunch today, oh sorry electorate?
46 comments:
Well said WD, well said.
I think if I were limited to under $20, I would just get the Lobster tail.
If it holds out over $50, I would get the Surf, and the Turf. Juicy cooked cow meat and lobster all the way. Aww yeah.
What's that you want? You want me to propose legislation renaming something after Ronald Regan again? Man this steak is so tender. OK, I'll do it. what this country needs is another Ronald Regan Memorial laundromat.
Thanks for lunch.
I don' know what I'll be having today. I'm up for just about anything
This is for you LizTurtle. Enjoy.
http://www.sushiday.com/
Hey!
Helloooo!
We're talking Lunch here.
I'd always scan the menu and look for whatever was the closest to $50, just to make sure I got the most bang for my buck while keeping it legal.
Perhaps legal seafoods would be in order, with oysters to start, grilled salmon for main course, and some sort of desert.
hmmmm, fifty dollar meal....
$20 for one lunch? I could eat all week and then some for that much. $50? Forgetting it.
But it would be nice to have lunch at a place where you get to sit down and some girl brings your food and cleans up afterwards. You can do that for $20.
i thinking the Applebees or the Fridays. that's where those rich people eat any ways, no?
On the real tho. ILL Mitch would take the $50, and get a loaf and pack (wonder and baloney), then with the $47 left over, get new gear for my board. It's getting old and could use new grip tape and stickers.
After reading how the ocean is almost out of fish, and seeing that link of the day on Yahoo, I'm thinking Sushi today for lunch.
Anybody in downtown capital city know where to go for sushi? Anybody try that Wasabi that they were aggressivly handing out flyers for? Lunch help por favor.
Sunshine, in Chinatown there is a place known as Wok n Roll where you can get a sushi lunch for $6. Only problem is that you don't get much and you're hungry again in an hour. I usually add an egg roll or something to get the fill up.
Wok n Roll is located on H street, between 6th and 7th, 1 block from Gallery place metro
$6 sushi lunch. Thanks WD. If I were in congress I could have 3 of those and an Arizona Iced Tea. Word
THANK YOU MIKEY!!!!!! How did I not come up with this idea myself? That's in the bookmark list now.
I've been to Wasabi a couple of times. It's good! And it's always fun to watch your food make it's way around you - it's entertainment, too. "Will that guy take the tuna nigiri? I really want the tuna nigiri. He didn't take it! Yay!" The choices are a little generic, but better than what you'd find at a regular sushi buffet. Be beware - it's very easy to just keep taking more & more plates. And they come & clear the empties every now & then so it's easy to lose track & suddenly be all "Dude! $80??? WTF???"
Lisa, get sushi.
Damn, if I didn't spend almost $50 on sushi last night, I would get some for lunch today. Siiigh. Oh well. I'll get a salad. Now do I go for Wendy's (b/c I haven't been there in forever) or Listrani's? I'm leaning towards Listrani's . . . .
Oh, yeah, and clearly I would go for Sushi Taro - Makoto's is too expensive (no way I could keep it to under $50) and Sushi Taro has their fabulous Rainbow Roll. Mmmmmm. In fact, I would order 4 Rainbow Rolls ($12 each) with enough leftover for, uh, parking.
Abramoff looks more like Grimace.
Sorry Watch Dog. I'll have to Wok and Roll some other day. Lady Sunshine is meeting me at Wasabi for some endangered seafood. Thanks Turtle.
you alluded to some sort of process and moving sushi and plates in your previous comment LT. WOuld you be able to give a man the rundown on the procedure so I don't look like a fool in front of my Girl.
Like more of a fool.
Holy crap. It's like today is all about the raw fish.
LT there were 2 Sushi themed picks on Yahoos links of the day today.
http://www.kookisushi.com/
I am so helpful today!
Ok, Mikey, so when you go in, assuming there's not a million people there (I haven't been for lunch), you'll have your choice of booths on the left or bar stools on the right. The bar stools have the advantage of you can look right at the food going by, but the booths have first choice (b/c of how the conveyer belt goes). If it's busy, you'll probably have to be in the bar stools, so try to sit as near the front of the restaurant as possible (you'll see what I mean). Each plate has a different color & each color is for a different price. They give you a little list so you'll know exactly what something costs. When something comes by that looks good, grab it. Easy peasy! But make sure that the description matches to the plate - occasionally something won't - so maybe that's good or bad. Depends on how adventuresome you are. And try the ceviche - they're much better than they look. Mmmm . . . . jealous.
Ha! I've seen that website before - I think it might have been the inspiration for my birthday cake by Lady A!
Was going to put in a big hit for my first entry of the day, all thought-out and shit about $20 lunches and $50 lunches and sushi.
Then BaldEagle walked up and told me that I could be eating lunch at Todai if I walked out the door right now.
I'll let you know how that turns out.
i can only assume that food in DC is twice the price of the rest of the country... i know if i was driving a restaurant supply truck i would jack up my prices if i had to enter the beltway...
honestly i cannot remember ever seeing a lunch item for $20.. dinner yes, but lunch? as i was walking to my last meeting i was thinking about this and have discovered the answer.
you see...
afternoons are reserved for sexual deviancy and who can be sexually deviant without getting their drunk on? thus that $20 is enough for lunch but not enough for lunch and pre-page booze. shit.. for $50 you could get a overpriced bottle of restaurant wine and a petit fillet minion...
$50 for lunch a day? shite. i would probably just get a delicious lunch and a second lunch that is microwave dinner friendly.
who am i kidding? i would get a $10 lunch and blow the rest on cigarettes, booze and loose women...
Oh snap!
Wish I was going to todai.
The only thing better than good sushi, is all you can eat sushi.
M.
I don't know what you're running fror, but you have my vote. Hell, I'll even work on the campaign.
Totally it's the booze.
Oh my god. I think I just broke sushiday.com. I navigated away from it & now I can't get back into it! Help, Wordpress people!
Oh no! A Baldwin was just arrested for stealing an SUV.
No it's not 'award winning' "actor" Steven
It's not Alec, the one with talent.
It was another one. Daniel, David, Dirk; something like that.
M, your attitude reminded me of a good quote, was it W.C. Fields perhaps?
I spend half my money on booze and women, the other half I just waste.
$50 free lunches...EVERYDAY?
I want to join Congress now...
For $20 they could get the Kobe beef burger and a salad at Jimmy's On K Street.
Good stuff.
Where did this Spring weather come from (in DC).
I was sweating my ass of coming to work.
Not hungry for lunch yet...
busy again. going down to breadline for lunch right now...beautiful day out so maybe i'll sit outside! weeeee!
i have tomorrow off! hooray for those veterans!
Yes, bless the vets for giving us a day off!
I'd hit up Wendy's 99cent menu...10 jr. bacon cheeseburgers, 4 frosties, 8 biggie fries, 8 5piece nuggets, 5 chilis and a few of some other random items.
Today I just grabbed a salad from downstairs. Lunch will be non-existant today since I have to leave early to go to Hour Eyes... :( I can't see anymore.
Well call me Elroy and spank me with a robotic spanking machine.
Wasabi was super awesome. It was like being in the Jetsons.
The sushi really does come by on a conveyor and it is wonderful. And yes, it is easy to lose track of what you're getting.
Okay, well, I for one think $50 for lunch isn't that out of whack. I've had many lunches (and I know Jo has too, he's no stranger to lunches at Morton's) in my days as a person employed, in particular employed NOT at an "ethical" joint, where we did work lunches at Galileo, Teatro, the Palm, the Caucus Room, etc. etc. and lunch was always about 40-50/person. Keeping in mind of course that lunch includes a glass of wine or so, and that any salads or sides at those joints are extra.
$20 is not reasonable for a lunch at a "nice" restaurant. Even if you're not drinking, you're probably spending at least $25-$30. Heck, I've spent $15 at breadline.
Oh how times have changed though. I have no money now, so I cobble together meals from what I have on hand en mi casa. Ramen is often involved.
I need to start hanging out with Trent Lott.
just got back from my first Mexican Food Experience in north new jersey... and it was good!
great salsa (a bit too tomatoey for my taste but good heat) and the taco and tostada were wonderful.. all for 7.50..
so i figure wiht the remaining 42.50, i'll get a pack of camel filters (6.50) and six bourbon and waters (36.00)... no.. five (30.00) and use that last six bucks to light my smokes...
What about brunch? If I were elected to the house, I would totally skirt the limitations that ethics places on my emjoyment of a free meal and I'd go on heaps of working Brunches. maybe i'd go to some lunners too, but mark my words. none of those are lunches, just a little early or a little later.
Siiiiigh. I want a sushi boat place, too. So jealous of the sushi boat place. I think there's a place up in Bethesda that has a small moat. But when the hell am I going to be up there for lunch?
I like the brunch idea. Ooooh, Georgia Brown's - you get all-you-can-eat buffet with regular buffet stuff (bacon, french toast, eggs benedict) plus an entree which they'll wrap up for you on the assumption you've stuffed your fat face too much already. Capital idea. Mmmm . . . that gumbo was good the next day, too.
I would find a place that serves a $50 burger, just to say I ate a $50 burger. I know there was some place in Britian that had the most expensive burger in the world, probably more than $50.
Anyone know where I could find something like that in DC?
From today's Yahoo Crossword puzzle
Corn meal treats.
Answer:
HoeCakes.
Cuz' Ho's gotta eat too.
I don't think this is the most expensive burger watchdog's talking about, but hey - it's only $9 past the limit! I would make the lobbyist "split" it with me so it would come in under the $50 (and I could get a couple sides & maybe a beer) & then I would say "you gonna eat that?" and scarf it down.
Hey PeeP, that's my bank
Oh, sweet, "the burger is shaped more like a baseball than a patty . . . [it] stands almost 4 inches tall and involves some impressive mouth contortions to take in." Not for yours truly! Damn. I wonder if I could charge people for the freak show value of watching me eat this burger with no problem & then I wouldn't have to pay for it. It sounds really good.
I just found the article about the world's most expensive sandwich. It's not a burger, but it costs, 85 Pounds. I guess that's about $161.99 at today's rates. Dang!
Take that Congress. You can't even think about a sandwich like that. Losers.
FUCK! It keeps fucking buffering on me. That clip is brilliant, Peep. That reminds me of the time in college when my roommate & I wrote a song for our sorority set to "Stayin' Alive". Nobody else thought it was funny. We also did one to that 20's song that goes "Hello my baby, hello my darling, hello, my ragtime gal". We were awesome! And not nearly as serious as this guy!
Ok, I just finished watching and a) I'm glad I belong to a credit union & b) you know this guy totally thinks he's getting some action from the ladies at the meet 'n greet in the hotel bar later tonight.
Peep, now that there is what I call the seemless melding of art and advertisement.
Why can't your company do something like that?
George Allen just conceded, its official!
Man, that mediterranean chicken salad isn't sticking around in my tummy. I'm hungry again. I have a yogurt in the fridge. I might have to get that. In fact, I should eat it sooner rather than later, b/c I'm working out & is there anything worse than a dairy-mouth while you're breathing heavy? For my pre-workout pick-me-up, I have Fun Dip. Cherry-YUM-DIDDLY flavour. I did not add the capital letters.
Shoosh Quake, Ain't you ever seen what happens to Costanza when he mixes food and sex. it could screw them both up for y ou.
Dear God! As a PSA to any OWFLers hoping to earn a free sammie from Safeway . . . beware! This may be the greatest threat to our free lunching nation since the great ham pogroms of the '20s.
mikeysunshine: you know I'm uneducated in the ways of the Seinfeld. So, no.
I stand by my insistence that a $160 sandwich better result in my sexual satisfaction.
lt, do you use the dippin' stick for your Fun Dip or do you snort it?
You don't snort the stick, silly!
And hey, if I did more cocaine, maybe I'd have more energy to go to the gym. Hmm.
meetings have kept me away but get this:
my daily allowance for food while on business trips is $20 A DAY. and i work for a big company with a lot of uninvested cash.
this makes me sad.
um.. dairy mouth is gross.
baseball sized/shaped hamburgers are awesome although i worry about food poisoning and suffocation.
my GPS unit is rad, i tried to get lost for hours the other night and failed miserably (like most things i attempt)
my employee is retarded and i hope the police cannot find her body
i just saw a guy walk by with short arms. like t-rex short arms and i tried not to laugh. i did not succeed. i would guess he lost his arms in a lawnmower accident (those warning labels had to come from something) and the only arms available were midget arms. he has learned to handle them well although i would be worried if he was to fall over
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