If Expense Accounts Could Talk . . .

If nothing else, the eruption of media interest in Bill and Hillary Clinton's Whitewater investment has helped further the President's goal of bringing jobs to his home state -- funded by the expense accounts of the reporters, up to 40 at any one time, who have been on the scene since the latest episode broke in December. Here are some of the things on which journalists are known to have spent their boss's money:

Single room, Capital Hotel, Little Rock: $108 + $10.26 room tax

One copy, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: $.35

Two eggs, ham, grits, biscuits and gravy, Apple Blossom Cafe, Little Rock: $4.95

Midsize rental car, corporate rate, Little Rock airport: $38 a day

Tire chains for trip to Whitewater Estates: $65

Buffet lunch, including fried chicken, beans and apple cobbler, the Front Porch restaurant, Yellville (home of Whitewater land records): $4.95

Copy of 2,582-page file on Madison Guaranty, Arkansas securities department: $645.50

Dinner with Jim McDougal, the Clintons' Whitewater partner, at Western Sizzlin restaurant, Arkadelphia: $12

One shot, Southern Comfort, Whitewater Tavern, Little Rock: $3.50

Membership, Midnight Rodeo, Little Rock private club featuring country-western music: $10