White House takes credit cards from C.E.O's

If you're a corporate CEO, and you are invited to the White House for lunch, you'd better bring your credit card along. Yes, the days of the free lunch are over at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Case in point:

A recent Oval Office powwow between President Obama and the heads of Xerox, Coca-Cola, AT&T, and Honeywell, where the executives were asked by White House staffers to provide their credit card information so that they could be billed for the cost of the meal.

The White House defended the unusual move as a way to avoid conflicts of interest. But the Bush administration didn't charge presidential guests for meals, one former official said, and at least one etiquette expert found the whole thing unseemly -- suggesting it was a serious breach of protocol.

The president regularly hosts meetings with the nation's top business leaders to listen to their grievances and suggestions, and making them pick up the tab for their meals is intended to show that the relationship is free of ethical complications.
No word on what each CEO ordered, and whether the White House price structure seemed fair, wildly exorbitant, or like a bargain.

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