Easy. You and I pay for it.

Bachmann has built an impressive communications staff in Washington, D.C. She has a press secretary for national media, a press secretary for local media and a “new media director” who harnesses “the networking and outreach power of the internet.”

According to congressional salary data, none of Minnesota’s Congress members has more than one press secretary. Minnesota’s most influential members, Democratic Reps. James Oberstar and Collin Peterson, who chair the House Transportation and Agriculture committees, respectively, each have only one press secretary.

Bachmann’s fellow freshman colleagues, Democratic Reps. Keith Ellison and Tim Walz, each have just one communications lead, and Walz has combined the communications director and district director positions into one entity.

Bachmann’s critics say she has engaged in a self-promotion campaign at the expense of her constituents in the 6th District. In September, the DFL Party criticized Bachmann for her four appearances on CNN’s “Larry King Live” while she was refusing to respond to an invite to a candidate forum in Scandia.

Instead of town hall meetings and constituent gatherings, Bachmann spent the last year engaging in tele-town hall meetings, a system for cold-calling members of the district.

She hasn’t held one public meeting in the district since being elected in 2006, instead opting for meetings with chambers of commerce or relying on robo-calling.

However, she has been on “Larry King Live” seven times in the last three months. Not to mention Fox’s Bill O’Reilly, Bloomberg, Fox’s Neil Cavuto and CNBC’s Squawk Box.

I tried to reach Bachmann’s office and campaign for a list of public events in the district in just the past two months, in the off chance I’m wrong about the lack of public appearances she’s made in the district. None of her three communications staffers has returned my request.

Before flying out to LA, Ventura’s apparently got a more pressing itinerary — walking his daughter down the aisle. Jade Ventura, 25, is scheduled to get married on Saturday.