The DCCC has some fun with Pete Sessions' strip club fundraiser.

A March 2007 evening at a Las Vegas strip club is creating a great deal of controversy throughout the country, including in Minnesota. The event raised money for the leadership PAC of Republican U.S. Representative Pete Sessions of Texas. Sessions was joined by casino executives and payday lenders at Ivan Kane's Forty Deuce nightclub, located in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

According to Sessions, the club is a harmless burlesque. Kane, the club's owner, shared his definition of a burlesque to NPR: "The key component would be to have girls who were dancers taking their clothes off, not just girls taking their clothes off."

Sessions' leadership PAC, People for Enterprise, Trade and Economic Growth picked up the tab for the event. NPR noted in a report that "just days before the party at Forty Deuce, casino interests donated $5,000 to his PAC. Payday lenders threw in another $2,500."

The PAC has contributed $5,000 to the congressional campaign of Erik Paulsen and $2,500 to Rep. Michele Bachmann's reelection campaign.

"Michele Bachmann and Erik Paulsen have spent their entire careers pushing an extreme right-wing agenda that has been out-of-touch with the views of everyday Minnesotans. Yet at the same time as they say they are pro-family, they take money raised from Casino owners partying at a strip club," said Carrie James, regional press secretary at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "The hypocrisy of this is astounding- a do as I say, not as I do approach to leadership."

Chris Bell easily reached his goal of $10k raised online in considerably less than 10 days, and now he's shooting for $20k, to offset one of Bob Perry's donations. The boys at BOR are on strike till they raise $1000 for him - they're almost halfway there already.

You've heard of John McCain's $500 shoes? That wouldn't even be enough to buy one of John Davis' boots.

The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 sailed through the House today. See a brief video on it here.

Diane Trautman having a volunteer appreciation breakfast on Saturday morning at 9 AM in the King's Crossing Apartments clubhouse up in Kingwood. Click that link for a map. And don't forget White Linen Nights in the Heights later in the day.

Finally, Rick Noriega will be hosting a live virtual town hall tomorrow at 1:30 PM. Just go to his website and submit your questions. Noriega was in College Station today for a more old-fashioned town hall. You can read some blog coverage of it here and here.