Front row seat for Al Gore congressional testimony: $850

ALEX WONG/Getty Images News

Yesterday's House committee testimony by former Vice President Al Gore drew huge crowds and long lines. Those in the know and with the cash, though, didn't have to wait for front row seats. With first-come, first-serve seating, the best spots in hearing rooms go to those with the most patience, and those people are increasingly those paid to be patient. The Politico, delivering some of the juicy inside-baseball that it's been promising for months, reports:

Professional line-standers cued up as early as 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, a full day before the hearing. Rob Smith and Ronald Flores of Linestanding.com were first in line, their reward for sleeping outside the Rayburn House Office Building.

Scruffy-looking folks standing for hours in line outside of committee rooms is a common, incongruous sight in the congressional office buildings. Typically, lobbyists will throw a $20 to one of a bunch of folks camped in lawn chairs outside the building to go hold a spot in line. A professional organization that organizes the practice seems to put a new twist on the practice, though.

But, it turns out, the outfit has been providing "quality line-standing services" for three decades. At prices of $36 an hour and up for a minimum of two hours, freedom from standing in line does not come cheap. At those prices, the prized first-row seat for Gore's performance cost upwards of $856.

Why on earth would anyone pay that much to sit through a dry-as-bones hearing that is simulcast live online anyway? According to Linestanding.com operations manager Dave Goldman,

For some lobbyists, it's clout being seen in the room, being seen in the front row.

At $856, that's a relative bargain for these guys.