There is no dearth of partying going on at the party conventions over the next two weeks.  According to USA Today, lobbyists have figured out how to entertain members of Congress and their guests -- all allowed by loopholes in the new ethics law :

The ethics rules bar lawmakers from accepting meals, gifts or entertainment from lobbyists and groups that employ them.

They also prohibit senators and House members from attending lobbyist-funded parties thrown in their honor. But there are exemptions. Members of Congress, for instance, still can snack at lobbyist-funded events if nothing more substantial than finger food is served.

They also can go to "widely attended" gatherings as long as at least 25 people who aren't in Congress also participate and the event is related to their "official duties."

And none of the restrictions applies to functions that either raise campaign money, collect cash for charities or are sponsored by political fundraising committees.

Yesterday, the House Committee on Standards released a memo outlining what kinds of events can be held at the party conventions next summer.

There are different interpretations from the competing newspapers on Capitol Hill. Roll Call says "The party will go on."  The Hill takes a more cautious approach writing "There will be no lobbyist-funded “Dreier Martini” or “Boehner Warehouse” blowouts at the summer’s presidential nominating conventions." 

Roll Call (sub. req.):

The party will go on. That was the call that lobbyists and ethics experts sounded after the House ethics committee put out its advisory memo Tuesday on the new rules for soirees at the upcoming Democratic and Republican national conventions.

While many event planners and ethics lawyers had hesitated to advise clients about what would be acceptable under the new ethics laws, lawyers say the committee not only clarified the rules for convention parties but expanded what would have been viewed as acceptable based on a stricter interpretation of the law.

“The House ethics committee has taken a statutory provision that was loaded with loopholes to begin with and basically expanded those loopholes so much that there ain’t very much left,” said Robert Kelner, an ethics lawyer at Covington & Burling.

The HIll:

The House ethics committee on Tuesday issued its long-awaited guidelines on member attendance at events taking place during the party conventions.

Ethics watchdogs hailed the guidance as a strict interpretation of both the spirit and letter of the new ethics and lobbying law.

“I’m pleasantly surprised,” said Craig Holman of Public Citizen. “The guidelines are really well thought through and follow what was intended by the law.”

Most important, lobbyists or organizations that employ lobbyists cannot underwrite parties that honor a member or members of Congress by name.

“Thus, an event that is organized to honor a delegation or caucus, without naming any specific Member or the delegation or caucus, or providing any special benefit or opportunity to a particular Member, would be an event that Members may participate in,” the House ethics advisory opinion states.