Junkets

Some California lawmakers haven't let the state's financial calamity keep them from enjoying the good life; they've been using campaign cash for first-class travel abroad, expensive dinners, salon makeovers and visits to luxurious spas. Spending reports filed with the state covering the last three months show: Several lawmakers checked into the Fairmont Hotel on Maui on donors' dimes two days after the start of an emergency session on the budget in November.

As ailing Wachovia Corp. waits to see whether it will be acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. or Citigroup Inc. -- possibly with taxpayers paying the tab for hundreds of billions of dollars in bad loans -- some of the company's top brokers are preparing to depart Saturday for an all-expenses-paid cruise of the Greek Isles. The weeklong trip for up to 75 employees of brokerage A.G.

Mortgage finance company Fannie Mae acknowledged Tuesday that it spent more than $6,000 on a golf outing after it was seized by the government earlier this year but said it was halting similar company-sponsored events. Dallas-Fort Worth-area television station KTVT reported Monday night that Fannie paid for 20 golfers, including several company executives, to attend a Sept. 29 golf excursion in Texas.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Friday that he would travel to four cities in El Salvador and Mexico on a nine-day mission next month to promote trade and combat transnational gangs. Villaraigosa plans to start his trip May 1 in San Salvador, where he will be joined by Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton. They will meet with Salvadoran President Tony Saca to discuss ways to confront the rising influence of violent gang members who travel between the two countries.

SACRAMENTO -- Despite a looming deadline in an already contentious effort to solve California's vexing water troubles, 19 state lawmakers have planned to fly overseas on other legislative business by the end of next week. Destinations include China, Azerbaijan, Germany, Argentina and Brazil.The Legislature has called a special session on water in hopes of placing a multibillion dollar bond measure on the Feb. 5 ballot. It normally would have until Sept.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, embarking on the first international forays of his year-old administration, will pay a short visit to England next week followed by a 16-day trade mission to Asia in October. With the back-to-back trips, Villaraigosa will spend much of the next month away from Los Angeles. The mayor travels first to London and Manchester, England, at the invitation of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who met Villaraigosa on a recent visit to California.

Looking to mine the vast economic riches of East Asia, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa launched a first-of-its-kind city tourism office here today on the inaugural leg of a 16-day trade mission through China, South Korea and Japan. The announcement, in a Beijing office complex, was the first of several deals Villaraigosa promised to seal on a trip he predicted would pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the Los Angeles economy.

What's a trip to the capital of China without running into Henry Kissinger? Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in the midst of a 16-day trade mission to East Asia, has been staying in the same hotel as the former secretary of State -- the St. Regis in Beijing's embassy district. A businessman in the mayors' delegation who has a connection to Kissinger arranged a meeting between the two. Kissinger received Villaraigosa for 30 minutes in his suite Monday evening. The guest list was short.

Let's say you're the mayor of Los Angeles on an official visit here and you crack a joke about politicians. Bad move. Or perhaps you bring a lovely crystal vase wrapped in white paper, the color for funerals. Oops. Luckily for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, his staff has compiled a protocol playbook for his East Asian trade mission to China, South Korea and Japan that contains enough do's and don'ts to give Emily Post a headache.

Shamed by images of wealthy corporateers cavorting at the expense of ordinary people, U.S. companies canceled an estimated $1 billion worth of conferences in the first two months of this year and trimmed back on others. Hoteliers are calling it "the AIG effect," after the insurance company that took a public drubbing for spending freely on corporate perks despite its financial turmoil.