Etc...

Then there's the food bill

With another academic year just around the corner, a new Royal Bank of Scotland survey of 2,163 college students - in this case in Britain - has found that they spend three times as much money annually on adult beverages as they do on books: $1.8 billion, compared to $600 million.

Fund-raising success often equates to Election Day success, which is why politicians are forever looking to fatten their campaign war chests. Last week, The Federal Election Commission reported that congressional candidates already had spent at least $487 million - or $130 million more than was spent at the same point in the 2002 races. The top fundraisers among current House and Senate candidates, their parties, receipts (in millions of dollars), and the state in which each is running:

House candidates
1. Dennis Hastert (R) Illinois $3.7
2. Robert Menendez (D) New Jersey 3.4
3. Martin Frost (D) Texas 3.1
4. Michael McCaul (D) Texas (tie) Allyson Schwartz (D) Pennsylvania 2.7
Senate candidates
1.Tom Daschle (D)South Dakota $11.8
2. Arlen Specter (R) Pennsylvania 11.4
3. Barbara Boxer (D) California 11.2
4. Charles Schumer (D) New York 10.4
5. Barack Obama (D) Illinois 9.8