An Easy DeLay
Government by the take, and for the take, or so it seems, according to this round-up of highlights from House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's "illustrious career."
Delay Raises Corporate Cash for TRMPAC: DeLay is embroiled in a scandal in Texas for his active participation in illegally funneling corporate funds to assist state political campaigns. DeLay's political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC), is under criminal investigation for using corporate money to finance Texas campaigns. DeLay has tried to distance himself from the group, but documents show DeLay "personally forwarded at least one large check" to the group and was "in direct contact with lobbyists for some of the nation's largest companies" on TRMPAC's behalf. [Source: NYT, 3/10/05; Salon, 10/04/04]Delay Bribes Congressman to Vote for Medicare: DeLay has admitted offering to endorse Sen. Nick Smith's (R-Mich.) son Brad, who was running for Congress at the time, in exchange for Smith's "yea" vote on the Medicare bill. His actions violated House rules and earned DeLay a "public admonishment" from the Ethics Committee. Smith originally alleged – and then retracted after pressure from House leaders – that DeLay also offered a $100,000 bribe for his vote. DeLay extended the role call on the Medicare bill for nearly three hours in order "to avoid an embarrassing loss." [Slate, 10/1/04; WP, 10/1/04]
Delay Uses Taxpayer Money for Partisan Stunt: The House ethics panel rebuked DeLay for using government resources to help locate a private plane he thought was carrying Texas Democratic legislators. DeLay was trying to force the legislators back to the capitol so he could push through his "bitterly disputed congressional redistricting." The ethics report cited House rules that bar members from taking "any official action on the basis of the partisan affiliation...of the individuals involved" and said DeLay's behavior raised "serious concerns under such "standards of conduct." [WP, 10/7/04]
Delay Pays for Golf Tournaments with Cash Meant for Kids: DeLay used a children's charity, Celebrations for Children Inc., as cover for collecting soft money from anonymous interest groups, some of which was used for "dinners, a golf tournament, a rock concert, Broadway tickets and other fundraising events" at the Republican convention in New York. Because the money was supposedly for charity, companies wishing to curry favor with DeLay were able to do so without revealing themselves as campaign donors. Federal laws governing tax-exempt charities allow no more than an insubstantial portion of a group's revenue to be spent on activities other than the charity's main stated purpose. [CBS, 11/14/03; WP, 3/24/04]
Here's a more detailed picture of the ethically ugly head Republican in Congress:
If you think that Bob Barr was as low as it got in the US House of Representative, you're doing a great injustice to Majority Whip Tom DeLay. Tom Delay, the House's Majority Whip is considered by some to be one of the most reviled thugs to hold public office in American history. Tom DeLay has literally reduced debate on the House floor to a shoving match. DeLay is a 52-year-old Houston millionaire and former owner of a pest-control company. Squashing bugs seems to have convinced Tom DeLay that he is a superior being in God's grand scheme. He is the religious right's most reliable culture warrior in the House.His mission is so stereotypically ultra-right-wing, it sounds like a liberal joke: repeal environmental protection laws. Dismantle the EPA. Teach creationism in public schools. Have the ten commandments tattooed on every citizens ass. Abolish separation of church and state. Outlaw abortion. Pass the flag burning amendment. Spend billions on SDI. Shut down the federal government. Crucify Clinton.
But DeLays' moral impairment doesn't stop there. It finds its logical extension in the realm of campaign finance. DeLay is a master of extortion, and his shadowy fundraising operations, which raise unknown amounts of soft money for the GOP are legendary. Not surprisingly, DeLay is vigorously opposed to anything even remotely resembling a campaign finance reform. Money, according to DeLay, is "not the root of all evil in politics. In fact, money is the lifeblood of politics."
In 1984, DeLay was elected to the lower House of Congress. He represents Sugar Land, a deceptively saccharine name for Texas's 22nd Congressional District, home to several of the worst industrial polluters in the country. DeLay has branded the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the "gestapo of government." His love for America is exemplified by his attempt to repeal the Clean Air Act, by his fight to cut the EPA's budget by one-third and by his cooperation with lobbyists to write legislation exempting their industries from environmental laws.
Tom DeLay practically invented the "do-nothing Congress." He was a chief architect of the 1995 government shutdown, a ploy by which Republicans halted all productive business of our democratically elected governing bodies in a failed attempt to weaken President Clinton's resolve. DeLay remains hardheaded about that scorched-earth tactic: "Our biggest mistake was backing off from the government shutdown."
On Capitol Hill, DeLay's nickname is the Hammer, acquired from his knack for pounding money out of political-action committees (PACs). According to DeLay's figures, he nailed $2 million for GOP candidates in 1994. "I worked harder than anybody else," he boasts. "I was smarter than anybody else."
Impressed by DeLay's relentless humility, House Republicans elected the Hammer to be their Majority Whip. Every time the GOP caucus votes to defile the face of public debate, DeLay is there to toss the initial smear.
Tom DeLay was the first national politician to call for Bill Clinton's resignation after the President admitted to fooling around with Monica Lewinsky. "Clinton does not have the moral authority to be President," pronounced DeLay. "I believe in the Constitution and the Bible."
DeLay has not always been immaculate. In a rare confessional lapse the Hammer admitted that "like many young, ambitious males, I had pushed God aside. What a jerk I was." DeLay assures a believing world that he has "rededicated my life to Christ."
The Hammer's dedication to the religious Right is beyond question. Randy Tate, executive director of the Christian Coalition, thinks of DeLay as "a Domino's Pizza delivery guy. It's there in 30 minutes, or it's free."
Charming.
Does Tom DeLay's so-called children's charity "Celbrations for Life" still have tax-exenpt status, after it has been revealed that money from these donors went to political entertainment for Republicans (2004 Convention) and for campaign donations (laundering thru a charity)?
I hope this is included in the laundering charges against him. Exploiting children to do an end-run around campaign finance laws is despicable. I certainly hope the IRS is looking into this. Do you know if they are?
Thanks,
Joanne Goodwin
Oceanside, Ca. 92056
Joanne Goodwin at October 6, 2005 10:55 AM
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