Pols get access to (relatively) cheap Bowl tickets

In a perk of public office, politicians from Pennsylvania and Massachusetts have gotten access to hard-to-get tickets to this weekend's Super Bowl, though most are paying face value.

The NFL has a long-standing policy of making tickets available to elected officials from states whose teams make the Super Bowl, and some pols haven't fumbled their chance to grab a seat...

When asked whether he thought it was inappropriate for politicians to get access to tickets that constituents could never hope to acquire, Street looked somewhat bemused.

"I'm not feeling any pangs of conscience paying $500 for these tickets," he said. He also noted that he was hardly traveling in style. Street planned to drive his family the 850 miles to Jacksonville, Fla., in a van.

Cut rate or not, the tickets might have been harder to accept in Massachusetts.

Ethics rules there prohibit state, county and municipal officeholders from accepting passes to exclusive events, even if they pay face value, if those tickets would have cost the general public at least $50 more.

The state Ethics Commission ruled before last year's AFC championship game that the opportunity to buy tickets no one else can get is an "unwarranted privilege."

Pennsylvania has no such rule...

Santorum's campaign bought him a ticket so he could attend a fund-raiser to be thrown for him during the game in a stadium suite owned by one of his supporters (who also provided access to the face-value pass).

Between that event and another fund-raiser in Jacksonville this weekend, Santorum's stands to raise between $30,000 and $40,000 for his 2006 re-election bid, his campaign office said.

Specter's staff declined to disclose who provided him with the ticket, but said he would pay face value for it.

Pennsylvania House Speaker John Perzel is also going, and taking several of his senior staff members with him. His office didn't disclose how he got his tickets, but said he is paying for them himself and did not get them from a lobbyist.

Pennsylvania politicians may accept a gift of almost any size, as long as it is not in exchange for an official act. Gifts worth more than $250 must be reported to the state.

By David B. Caruso, AP, The Scranton Times, Feb 4, 2005

Precious passes to Super Bowl a perk for Pa. politicos

For U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.), the Super Bowl is a chance to pass the campaign hat. Spokeswoman Christine Shott said the senator hopes to raise $35,000 at two fund-raisers in Jacksonville on Sunday, one before the game and the other at the stadium in a box arranged by Washington lobbyist Jim Hirni, who works with conservative lawmakers.

Not everybody was working the levers of power. Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham - who, after all, can put people in jail - said it would not be ethical to beg for tickets. "I would never ask for any, and I couldn't accept any," she said.

By Thomas Fitzgerald and Mario F. Cattabiani, Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb 6, 2005 

Contribute to your favorite group opposed to Santorum at Links.