Culled from invitations faxed to PAC leaders and lobbyists in Washington. This is not a complete list of fundraisers, only what we could track down for this weekend:

Republican Main Street Partnership PAC Members Retreat, Sanctuary Inn, Kiawah Island, SC. $3,000 per organization. Please join us for a very special event on Saturday Evening - May 13 - In Greenville, NC to honor Congressman Walter Jones with our special guest U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. Political Action Committees -- $1000 (includes reception and photo-op for 4 people. [Note: at the top of the invitation, it reads: "Attention All Pac Directors: Please note that this event is to be held in North Carolina. We would be delighted to have any of you regional people join us for this even if appropriate... {elipses in original}]

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...but lobbyists and PACs are. Every week, the fax machines of Washington's lobbying firms and political action committees spit out dozens of invitations to wine and dine with lawmakers--and chip in a couple of hundred or couple of thousand bucks for the privilege. Members advertise all kinds of things in these listings--their committee asssignments, their seniority, their familiarity with particular issues--all to induce the PAC paymasters and lobbyists to cough up the bucks. This is the source of much of the incumbency advantage in fundraising that my colleague Larry Makinson documented. If you're heading a PAC or lobbying for some well-heeled client, you have actions before the federal government today, right this minute. Waiting until next January on the off chance that some bumpkin from the sticks knocked off someone on a committee you need to influence isn't a particularly practical way to operate. As for the members themselves, well, they're just fundraising among their cash constituents...

Here’s today’s candidate for one of the 10 most overlooked bookmarks on OpenSecrets.org, the website that tracks money in federal elections: http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/stats.asp?cycle=2006&display=A&type=R This particular page will give you a glimpse into the amount of money members of Congress have already stockpiled for their 2006 reelection campaigns. If you were thinking of running for Congress this year, a warning: you may find this information frightening. Even if you’re not running, you may find it depressing – at least if you're a fan of competitive elections.