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• Big Tobacco crashes the party by funding fetes 

Barred from the official sponsor status Philip Morris enjoyed at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, cigarette makers have joined other corporate sponsors who have given undisclosed and unregulated gifts to fund private parties for lawmakers at the Democrats' quadrennial convention.

"It doesn't seem to have altered the way we're doing business here," Philip Morris spokeswoman Peggy Roberts said.

Because the hundreds of parties and fund-raisers that revolve around the convention are not official events, the Democrats have technically kept their promise.

The gifts of food and drink are often mingled with gifts that require disclosure. Give a House member a check and it must be reported to the Federal Election Commission. Host a lavishly catered event where a senator can collect hundreds of checks and no government agency needs to know who paid for the party.

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It doesn't seem to have altered the way we're doing business here.
Philip Morris spokeswoman Peggy Roberts, on the DNC's ban on official tobacco sponsorship in L.A. Hendren, J., <I>Big Tobacco crashes the party by funding fetes</I>