If you haven’t been under a rock lately, you know that the Bush Administration is proposing a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street. What you might not know is that there have been 258 parties this year alone for members of the House Financial Services Committee — the very folks who are making crucial decisions about this legislation — a number of them hosted by lobbyists for the finance, insurance, and real estate industries.

Some of the more interesting lobbyist-hosted parties uncovered by the intrepid crew at PartyTime include:

• Sushi reception hosted by the Eris Group, a lobbying firm that represents banks, Freddie Mac, Morgan Stanley and the Mortgage Bankers Association. Cost of a raw fish plate: $2,000 for a host, $1,000 for a PAC and $500 per individual.

• Summer happy hour thrown by REIT (National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts) PAC and InsurPAC, the PAC for the Independent Insurance Agents of America. A fruity drink with a paper umbrella will run you: $1,000 suggested donation.

• Beer tasting with a Citigroup Management Services lobbyist. A plastic wrist band will set you back: $250 for a host, $100 to attend and $1,000 for a PAC.

Colorado’s own 7th Congressional District Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Golden) serves on the House Financial Services Committee. PartyTime has no record of Perlmutter receiving or attending lobbyist parties to cushion his campaign war chest.

We’re just back from a party thrown by Qwest CEO Ed Mueller at the Denver Art Museum’s Palletes restaurant. Designed to be a “widely attended event” under the new ethics law, according to the invitation, apparently it wasn’t so widely attended that they were prepared to allow me in. (To meet the “widely attended” loophole, the event must have at least 25 attendees who are not members of Congress, and there must be some official business for the lawmaker attending, among other conditions.)

Johanna Hoff, a spokesperson for Qwest, politely explained to us that the event was “private,” that she really didn’t have any details about what they were serving or who was on the guest list. I mentioned that since the invitation specifically said the event was designed to be “widely attended,” it seemed like some members of Congress would be attending, but again, she pleaded ignorance.

She confirmed that yes, Qwest is supporting both the Democratic and the Republican conventions, because the company considers both Democrats and Republicans alike to be its “customers.”

We got some great footage on video , which will be available via our twitter account-www.twitter.com/SFPartytime as soon as Qik.com comes back up.

Nancy Watzman is with the Sunlight Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) educational organization that supports, develops and deploys new Internet technologies to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to the American people. She is a former fellow with the Center for Independent Media.

Those of you who followed our exploits on twitter.com/SFPartytime will know that as I suspected, I’m not so popular when it comes to convention parties.

Last night Gabriela Schneider, the Sunlight Foundation’s communications director, and I met up with a crew from Inside Edition, which was doing a piece about the Baca golf fundraiser I blogged about yesterday. (The story should air tonight.) Our first stop was the lobbying firm Brownstein, Farber party at the Denver Art Museum. It had all the appearances of an elegant affair. Well coifed and dressed folks chatting outside the entrance in the cool evening, not paying much attention to the riot police who were grouped nearby.

Stephen Farber, lobbyist and lead organizer of the convention for the Denver Host Committee did a photo op outside before entering. Alas my rendition is too blurry to include here. And for anyone who doubted that members of Congress were invited need only look at this sign in front of the building. I went up to the other side and asked if I could go in and was told, quite pleasantly and politely, “no.”

Next stop was the Blue Dog party sponsored by AT&T and Genworth Financial, out in what seemed to be an industrial wasteland by the Pepsi Center. Fitting with the surroundings, the bouncers there were, well, rather thuggish. I was told in no uncertain terms that I was not even allowed to stand near the entrance, since that was private property. When I demurred from moving, a police woman walked over to me, said, “So YOU’RE the self professed party crasher?” and told me I had to stand over on public space. So Gabriela and I complied.

We weren’t the only ones who tried to get into the Blue Dog party and failed. Inside Edition didn’t get in. Neither did folks from Crooks and Liars or Jane Hamsher from Firedoglake or Matt Stoller of Open Left. Neither did reporters from CQ or the AP, at least not while we were there. There was also a demonstration by Code Pink, although I don’t believe it was their object to go in the party, but rather to flaunt their pink and sing protest songs.

Well, today is a new day. We’re off soon to the Big Tent. More later.

Nancy Watzman is with the Sunlight Foundation, is a 501 (c)(3) educational organization, supports, develops and deploys new Internet technologies to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to the American people. She is a former fellow with the Center for Independent Media.