What you probably didn't know is that Boxer has been sending large amounts of cash to [Rep. Maxine] Waters's daughter for the past two cycles, and in exchange, Waters has been featuring Boxer prominently on her "slate mailer," a sample ballot used by many voters in Waters's South Central district.

In 2004, Boxer paid Rep. Waters's daughter, Karen Waters, $25,000 to ensure her spot on the mailer; on June 2, Boxer's campaign sent "Citizens for Waters" $5,000.

Back in December 2004, Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington told the Los Angeles Times, "It looks like congresswoman Waters is using her position to financially benefit her family members, and that is at the very least unethical. . . . You shouldn't be making money off your mother's endorsements." Of course, by that point, Boxer and Waters had been reelected and it was too late for California voters to hold either accountable.

Since 2000, Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat, has taken 18 trips sponsored by outside organizations, at a value of $97,975.

Naturally, if you want to learn about the Islamic world, you go to . . . Paris, France. With your spouse. For a week. At a cost of $12,272, as Boxer did in 2008.

If you want to become more familiar with the impact of U.S. policy on Latin America, clearly, you go to . . . the Punta de Mita beach resort in Mexico. With your spouse. Three times, in 2006, 2005, and 2002, at a cost of roughly $6,000 per trip.

If you want to learn more about U.S.-Russia-European relations, you go to . . . Dublin, Ireland, for five days, at a cost of more than $6,000, as she did in 2005. (I salute her taste.) Or perhaps you go to London, at a cost of $8,260, as she did in 2002.