This will be in Washington Post Wednesday:
WASHINGTON--Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, who was elected House majority leader last week, is renting his Capitol Hill apartment from a veteran lobbyist whose clients have direct stakes in legislation Boehner has co-written and that he has overseen as chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee.
The relationship between Boehner, John D. Milne and Milne's wife, Debra R. Anderson, underscores how intertwined senior lawmakers have become with the lobbyists paid to influence legislation. Boehner's primary residence is in West Chester, Ohio, but for $1,600 a month, he rents a two-bedroom basement apartment near the House office buildings on Capitol Hill owned by Milne, Boehner spokesman Don Seymour said Tuesday. Boehner's monthly rent appears to be similar to other rentals of two-bedroom English basement apartments close to the House side of the Capitol in Southeast, based on a review of apartment listings.
Well, OK, but does he actually PAY that alleged rent? Excuse me for being skeptical.
I want to see the canceled rent checks.
A basement apartment? Let's hope for a backed-up sewer.
And one more quip: Is the apartment furnished? Is he sleeping in a lobbyist's bed?
More from WaPo:
Milne's clients--including restaurant chains and health insurance companies--hired him to lobby on issues at the heart of Boehner's work, including minimum wage hikes, small business tax breaks and tax-free savings accounts to help cover insurance costs, congressional lobbying records show.
...snip
Boehner's work closely coincides with the interests of Milne. In 2002, the House approved the Economic Security and Worker Assistance Act, a tax measure originally drafted by Boehner, Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, and Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Calif., as the Back to Work Act. The measure eventually was signed into law as an economic stimulus.
Lobbying disclosure forms indicate that one of Milne's clients, Fortis Health Plans, hired him to lobby the Economic Security and Worker Assistance Act.
Another client, the Buca di Beppo Italian restaurant chain, hired Milne to push the Small Business Tax Fairness Act, which would allow restaurants to deduct the cost of investments from their taxes at a faster pace. The measure was introduced by Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, in 2003, with Boehner as one of 15 co-sponsors. Many of its provisions have since become law.
Fortis, now called Assurant Health, also asked Milne to push Health Savings Accounts, the tax-free savings accounts established by Congress to help with health care costs not covered by inexpensive, high-deductible health plans. Boehner is an outspoken proponent of such accounts, which President Bush is targeting this year for a major expansion.