About two or three years ago, I answered the phone at the restaurant where I was working. The woman asked for (I'll call him) John Smith, and I replied that he wasn't there yet, but I could take a message.
She told me that Mr. Smith had been selected as a Local Businessman of the Year, and was being invited to come to DC to receive his award. I was immediately skeptical; if you knew John, you'd know that he's no "Businessman of the Year" candidate. I gave him the message, though, and he was understandably intrigued, and called later on that day.
The "award" was, of course, a bid for campaign money.
In order to receive his "award", at a banquet in DC honoring him and his fellow "winners", he'd have to give $5,000 to the Delay campaign. On top of this, he would be responsible for paying for all his meals and hotel accomodations, save the "banquet", of course, during his stay in DC. Therefore, he would have had to pay out about 7 grand in order to recieve his award. Heh-heh. He didn't, of course....he hated to spend money unless it was on gambling, which is one reason why he's no longer a businessman.