Lawmakers In Washington Lose Rick Santorum's 'Candy Desk'

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WASHINGTON -- With Democrats back in control of Congress for the first time in years, much is changing in the nation's capital, including a longtime tradition in the U.S. Senate: the "candy desk."

For a decade until his defeat last year, Sen. Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican, stocked the desk with donations from home-state candy makers including Hershey Co. and Just Born Inc., maker of Hot Tamales and Peanut Chews.

With Mr. Santorum gone, the desk, which is dipped into by many members, has been turned over to Sen. Craig Thomas, a Republican from Wyoming. But his state is better known for bison than bonbons -- and that's a big problem.

Ethics rules forbid members accepting gifts worth $100 or more a year from a single source. One exception covers items produced in a senator's home state -- so long as they're used primarily by people other than the senator or his staff. The provision was crafted to allow senators to offer visitors home-grown snacks, such as Florida orange juice or Georgia peanuts.

In Wyoming, some small outfits sell esoteric sweets, such as chocolates designed to look like moose droppings. But the state doesn't have any big, brand-name candy makers who could step into the breach. As a result, the candy-industry lobbying group, which coordinates stocking the desk, is cutting off the sweets, citing Wyoming's candy deficit and ethics rules.

"We're happy to provide candy if there are members" in the home state of the senator who sits at the candy desk, says Susan Smith, a spokesman for the National Confectioners Association. "It would be difficult for us to do now."

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116796726745367891-4WEUj1Fh8psPL3NFxde8ZYnOWjw_20070204.html?mod=tff_article

I am glad that I was wrong.

I thought Virginia was Santorum's home state??? :shrug:


Mmmm moose droppings mmmm

:thumbsup:

I would imagine he'd move back to his 4-room house in PA, since that was his main residence. :sarcasm:

:puke:
Picking out of that box of chocolates would be like a game of russian roulette.

funny, that's the only good thing I've ever read about Santorum.

:thumbsup:

:shrug:

articles. Oh Wow... what a big story! :eyes: