2
   

More trouble for DeLay

 
 
Reply Mon 28 Feb, 2005 11:51 am
This guy is scum. True scum.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=134

Quote:
2/28/2005
Social Security "fright mail" targeting seniors helped fund GOP leader's trips to UK, AsiaThe National Center for Public Policy Research, a highly controversial and little-known conservative think tank which has been sending Social Security "fright mail" for years, paid for two posh trips for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) in 1996 and 2000, each at the cost of at least $64,000.

NCPPR also gave $1,000 to DeLay's legal defense fund in 2004.

While another conservative group stole the limelight for an ad linking the AARP to gay marriage, NCPPR has operated below the radar on controversial issues since its founding in the early 1980s.

The group's letters target seniors of both parties, aiming to convince them their Social Security benefits are in jeopardy and thereby induce them to donate money. The mailings also encourage seniors to keep the mailing secret from others, perhaps even from family members.

"Inside your sealed is information regarding the potential collapse of the Social Security system - and how it can endanger you and the entire United States senior citizen population," NCPPR president Amy Ridenour writes in one such letter obtained by RAW STORY (Read the letter here). "It is also critical that you share this pertinent information ONLY [sic] with other trustworthy individuals."

"Should we put most of our time and effort into fighting to prevent liberal big-spenders from draining an estimated $100 billion from the trust fund?" Ridenour asks. "Or should I go head to head against the left-wing's reckless use of $70 billion tax surplus when they promised to put our Social Security first?"

"The liberal monster is primed to rip your Social Security to shreds," reads another hyperbolic letter reported on by the San Francisco Examiner in 1998.

The group uses at least four different letterheads to solicit money; all of the money is funneled into the same organization.

In January, RAW STORY asked NCPPR Executive Director David Almasi why there was only one reference to one of the letterhead "task forces" on the NCPPR website, nor any description of how money is spent.

"We [don't] currently have Internet access at our office," Almasi said.

Almasi couldn't say how much the mailings had collected or how many individuals had donated. Ridenour didn't return calls seeking comment.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay enjoyed the generosity of the group at least twice. The group paid for a $64,064 trip for himself and his staff to Moscow and St. Petersburg when he was Majority Whip in the summer of 1997.

NCPPR also picked up a hefty $70,000 tab for trip for DeLay and his aides made in mid-2000 to Europe. DeLay and his staff took a junket where he met with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and took a round of golf with conservative leaders in Scotland.

The ten-day "educational" trip was no small affair-NCPPR paid $28,106 for DeLay and his wife alone, splurging on transportation ($20,266.00), cushy lodging ($3,840.00) and meals ($4,000.00).

DeLay's office did not return RAW STORY calls seeking comment today.

In the 1990s, the group began to focus on denying climate change after they began received tens of thousands of dollars from ExxonMobil. They also launched a crusade on behalf of tobacco interests after taking money from Phillip Morris.

NCPPR also saw an awkward moment last year when one

of the members of the group's conservative African American branch Project 21 failed to show up for a C-SPAN interview. Almasi, who is the only paid staff member for Project 21 and is white, the filled in. From there, one editor went on to expose the group as a whole, finding that not a single director or board member of the group was black.

RAW STORY is looking for other Social Security and "fright mail" letters sent out by NCPPR. If you have received a copy of a letter, or have any other information regarding another letter, please email [email protected]



I hope they nail him to the wall. But I doubt it, as he's a top neo-con, and therefore immune from prosecution under the Bush admin.

Cycloptichorn
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Type: Discussion • Score: 2 • Views: 9,105 • Replies: 151
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Cycloptichorn
 
  1  
Reply Mon 28 Feb, 2005 07:21 pm
It gets better:

Quote:
The Preston Gates Mates


...

Cycloptichorn
0 Replies
 
Cycloptichorn
 
  1  
Reply Thu 10 Mar, 2005 11:55 am
DeLay and his cronies are trying as hard as they can to dodge this stuff, but it's hard to see how he will given that more and more keeps coming out...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22067-2005Mar9.html

Quote:
S. Korean Group Sponsored DeLay Trip
Visits May Have Broken House Rules


By Mike Allen and R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 10, 2005; Page A01

A delegation of Republican House members including Majority Leader Tom DeLay accepted an expense-paid trip to South Korea in 2001 from a registered foreign agent despite House rules that bar the acceptance of travel expenses from foreign agents, according to government documents and travel reports filed by the House members.

Justice Department documents show that the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council, a business-financed entity created with help from a lobbying firm headed by DeLay's former chief of staff, registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act on Aug. 22, 2001. DeLay; his wife, Christine; and two other Republican lawmakers departed on a trip financed by the group on Aug. 25 of that year.


Thursday's Question:

Raising the retirement age is a component of some of the plans to overhaul Social Security. What was the retirement age when Social Security was first enacted in 1935?
55
58
62
65







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The exchange group in late 2003 hosted three Democratic House members and another Republican on a similar trip. It spent at least $106,921 to finance the three-day trip in 2001 from Washington to Seoul by the Republicans, which DeLay (Tex.) and accompanying staff assistants described at the time as having an "educational" purpose.

DeLay's aides said yesterday that the congressman did not learn of the group's registration until this week. "There's no way we could have known, and they didn't inform us of the fact that their status changed," said DeLay's communications director, Dan Allen.

The Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives on Gifts and Travel state that "a Member, officer or employee may not accept travel expenses from 'a registered lobbyist or agent of a foreign principal.' "

Jan W. Baran, a former general counsel for the Republican National Committee, said that although he was uncertain whether this trip violated the rules, "it's a problem" likely to trigger an investigation by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, known as the ethics committee. DeLay was admonished three times last year by the ethics committee.

An aide to DeLay who asked not to be named said DeLay staff members had general discussions about the trip with the ethics committee before leaving and received verbal approval.

A veteran House official familiar with the case, who declined to be named because of DeLay's involvement, said verbal approval is not granted by the committee on such matters.

Committee staff workers provide advice to lawmakers and their aides, but it does not go beyond what could be read in a manual, the official said. "The only way you can get, quote, approval from the ethics committee that is good for anything other than your own comfort level is to write a letter asking for approval, and to get a letter back," the official said. "If you do that, you're home free. If you don't, you're always running the risk you'll end up in a bind."

No letter was sent by DeLay to the committee, DeLay's aides said.

DeLay was accompanied to Seoul by Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Ander Crenshaw, both Florida Republicans. A spokesman for Ros-Lehtinen, Alex Cruz, said she did not know the group had registered as a foreign agent.

"My boss was never told of this," Cruz said. A spokesman for Crenshaw, Kenneth Lundberg, said, "When the trip was brought [to us], we did an internal vetting of it, and that revealed no problems, no issues."

Lundberg said Crenshaw does not typically seek ethics committee approval for travel with other legislators and did not in this case.

The purpose of the trip is spelled out in documents filed with the Justice Department by the Alexander Strategy Group, a firm created by former DeLay chief of staff Ed Buckham that boasts dozens of large corporations and trade associations among its clients. Buckham is close to DeLay, and associates of both men say that DeLay agrees to meetings with corporate officials on Buckham's recommendation.

<snip>


Page 2 inside.

What is it going to take to kick this jerk out of power?

Cycloptichorn
0 Replies
 
joefromchicago
 
  1  
Reply Thu 10 Mar, 2005 12:34 pm
Cycloptichorn wrote:
What is it going to take to kick this jerk out of power?


http://www.bonideproducts.com/images/grayscale/gallery/images/123-Roach%20Powder.jpg
0 Replies
 
revel
 
  1  
Reply Fri 11 Mar, 2005 06:18 am
Laughing

But seriously, where is the hue and cry from the right? Why don't they get rid of him themselves?
0 Replies
 
PDiddie
 
  1  
Reply Fri 11 Mar, 2005 07:27 am
While we wait for Judge Joe Hart to issue his ruling in the TRMPAC case, let's catch up with what people are saying about "The D. A. and Tom DeLay".

The first block quote below is from the CBS transcript of last Sunday's 6o Minutes piece:

Quote:
DeLay's fellow Texan, Republican Rep. John Carter, says whether the law was broken depends on what your definition of "administrative" is. "No court has actually defined clearly what administrative purposes is," says Carter. 60 Minutes showed him TRMPAC's brochure with the statement of how the corporate funds would be spent. "Active candidate evaluation and recruitment. Message development. Market research and issue development," says Stahl. "I mean, how is that administrative?"

"Active candidate evaluation and recruitment, that's a party of administrative procedure," says Carter. "That's a party function."

"I thought administration was the running of the office. The Xerox machine. Paying bills," says Stahl.

"This is what the court has to rule on," says Carter. "If they find all these things are administrative, there'll be no convictions in this case."


I'd like to propose an alternate explanation to the question of why no court has ever ruled on what constitutes an "administrative purpose". There's no case law because no one has ever come close to violating this century-old law before, and the reason for that is because anyone with two brain cells to rub together can plainly see that "administrative" means "non-political". When you have a law that is crystal clear, one that draws a very bright line, as this one does, you should expect there to be very little case law because there is no confusion about what the law says.

Nobody's been brazen --or ignorant -- enough before to claim that confusion was even a plausible explanation.

This isn't an honest mistake, it isn't a testing of boundaries, and it isn't a case of the law not keeping up with new technologies. It's shameless pettifoggery, and it deserves to be slapped down.

It's this kind of duplicitous bullshit and slavish toadying performed by footlickers like Carter that makes me despise the Republican party. DeLay ought to be tarred and feathered, and all of his minions in the House know it, and they just don't have the stones to do so, much less speak up about it. They continue to vouch for him, cover for him, run interference, and punish those who dare stand up and speak out.

Tom DeLay is precisely the reason why the GOP invites comparisons to the Nazis.

If they know what's good for them, they'll get rid of him. Quick.
0 Replies
 
Cycloptichorn
 
  1  
Reply Fri 11 Mar, 2005 10:50 am
Quote:
Tom DeLay is precisely the reason why the GOP invites comparisons to the Nazis.


Agreed.

This is the same guy who stood up at a prayer breakfast and read a passage that implied/stated that the Earthquake in Indonesia was their own fault for not worshiping Jesus.

Seriously. Then he sat back down.

Cycloptichorn
0 Replies
 
revel
 
  1  
Reply Mon 14 Mar, 2005 07:46 am
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32389-2005Mar13.html

By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 14, 2005; Page A01

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) has dismissed questions about his ethics as partisan attacks, but revelations last week about his overseas travel and ties to lobbyists under investigation have emboldened Democrats and provoked worry among Republicans.

With some members increasingly concerned that DeLay had left himself vulnerable to attack, several Republican aides and lobbyists said for the first time that they are worried about whether he will survive and what the consequences could be for the party's image.

"If death comes from a thousand cuts, Tom DeLay is into a couple hundred, and it's getting up there," said a Republican political consultant close to key lawmakers. "The situation is negatively fluid right now for the guy. You start hitting arteries, it only takes a couple." The consultant, who at times has been a DeLay ally, spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying he could not be candid otherwise.

At least six Republicans expressed concern over the weekend about DeLay's situation. They said they do not think DeLay necessarily deserves the unwanted attention he is receiving. But they said that the volume of the revelations about his operation is becoming alarming and that they do not see how it will abate.

Thomas E. Mann, senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said that DeLay remains generally strong within his party and is an effective leader and operator, but that "signs are emerging that both the number and nature of charges being raised against him could put him in serious political peril."

"While he is far from a nationally recognized figure, Republicans worry that all it takes is more national news coverage to change that, and there seems to be a new episode every week or two," Mann said. "We've seen throughout congressional history that a series of seemingly small ethical missteps can snowball."

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said DeLay "has always had, and continues to have, the strong support" of the party. "His leadership and dedication to maintaining and growing our numbers are a significant reason for our Republican majority," he added.

Republican leaders had thought they had built a fortress against future trouble by changing House rules in January and by changing the House ethics committee's Republican membership in February to include members closer to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and DeLay. In one previously unreported example of the tight connections, Rep. Lamar S. Smith (R-Tex.), one of the committee's new members, was co-host of a 2002 fundraising breakfast to benefit the DeLay-founded political action committee that is now the subject of a grand jury investigation in Texas. The grand jury is looking into whether the PAC improperly used corporate funds to influence the outcome of state legislative races.

DeLay's legal defense fund received contributions from two of the new ethics committee members, Smith and Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.). The committee admonished DeLay three times last year. Republican leaders later sought the rule changes that made it more difficult to bring new ethics charges against Republicans.

Democratic leaders have introduced a resolution to repeal the rules and said they plan to try to force Republicans to publicly defend the changes at a time when the news media are reporting about DeLay's relationship with lobbyists now under criminal and congressional investigation.

The rule changes require at least one member of each party to support an investigation before it is begun. Under the old rules, if the chairman and top Democrat did not agree on what to do with a complaint within 45 days after it was determined to be valid, an investigative subcommittee was automatically created. Now, a complaint is automatically dismissed if the committee does not act within 45 days.

Democrats opened their protest Thursday, at the ethics committee's first meeting under its new leadership, by preventing the panel from organizing. The committee must adopt rules to function, and those were voted down by a 5 to 5 party-line vote, leaving the House with no mechanism for investigating or punishing members.

Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (W.Va.), the committee's top Democrat, said in a telephone interview yesterday that he will not release his freeze on committee action unless the House undoes the rule changes, and he said he has begun recruiting Republicans to back him. He said he may use a tactic known as a discharge petition, which could force a bill to the floor if enough Republicans back him.

"This will have to be resolved on the House floor," Mollohan said. "These rules undermine the ability of the committee to do its job. Republicans are not going to want to be part of impeding the work of the committee."

The ethics committee, formally known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, is the only panel split evenly between Republicans and Democrats, giving the minority party leverage it does not have anywhere else in the House.

Ron Bonjean, Hastert's communications director, said the party's leaders have no intention of giving in. "It's very clear we're at an impasse caused by Democrat partisan politics," he said. "The House has already voted on rules for this Congress, and there is no credible reason to do it again."
0 Replies
 
Cycloptichorn
 
  1  
Reply Mon 14 Mar, 2005 10:05 am
From http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/3/14/01656/7972

Quote:
In the last few weeks:

Delay tried to shield himself from the deluge by making the House ethics committee his puppet, but the flood came anyway:

The National Journal reported that DeLay may have violated House ethics rules when a Swift-Boat/USA Next lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, shelled out $13,000 for DeLay's stay at the London Four Seasons hotel

Raw Story revealed that DeLay has taken a huge London trip funded by an anti-Social Security lobbyist org connected to the SVFT

Two Sundays ago, CBS's "60 Minutes" aired a 12-minute segment reminding a national audience that a Democratic district attorney ("Being called vindictive and partisan by Tom DeLay is like being called ugly by a frog") in Austin is continuing to suggest he might indict DeLay as part of an investigation of the involvement of money from DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) (scandal overview here)

On Wednesday, a front-page story in the New York Times said documents entered as evidence in a civil trial in Austin "suggest that Mr. DeLay was more actively involved than previously known in gathering corporate donations for" the committee

On Thursday, DeLay admitted to the Houston Chronicle that he actively raised funds for TRMPAC

On Thursday, The Washington Post reported that DeLay (and some other Rs and Ds) accepted trips from the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council, which had registered as a foreign agent, in violation of House rules

On Saturday, the Post reported on another London trip by DeLay, this time funded by gambling interests and Indian casinos (with the help of Abramoff)

The Post reported today that Rep. Lamar S. Smith (R-Tex.), one of the ethics committee's new members, was co-host of a 2002 fundraising breakfast to benefit TRMPAC

The New York Times reported today that DeLay's been pullling in massive donations to his legal defense fund, with tens of thousands of dollars coming from corporations indicted in the Texas DeLay investigation


Lots of links to extra info inside.

Cycloptichorn
0 Replies
 
PDiddie
 
  1  
Reply Mon 14 Mar, 2005 12:47 pm
See, I think the ethical troubles swirling around the Imperial Bugman from Sugar Land are beginning to reach critical mass.

Quote:
"If death comes from a thousand cuts, Tom DeLay is into a couple hundred, and it's getting up there," said a Republican political consultant close to key lawmakers. "The situation is negatively fluid right now for the guy. You start hitting arteries, it only takes a couple." The consultant, who at times has been a DeLay ally, spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying he could not be candid otherwise.


That's almost as good as this, from Karen Tumulty:

Quote:
After the debacle over the ethics rules, more than a few House members say they can ill afford to put their necks out much farther for DeLay. "As members head home, they'll review the various media reports," says Arizona's Hayworth, who has been burned by revelations that he used a skybox supplied by Abramoff for fund raising. "I'm sure that it's in the best interest of the majority leader and the majority to have an accounting of what transpired."


TIME

Does anybody need the Washington telephone number of their Congressional representative? You can find that here:

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/index.html

Now if your House member also just happened to be a Republican, and he or she also wasn't one of those Republicans who is completely beholden to the Majority Leader (like, say, a Republican from outside the state of Texas, for example; one who hasn't already been bought off by the DeLay money machine, one who's not a brand-new Congressman) and he heard that people were calling his office saying something like this:

"I think it's disturbing that Representative (----) hasn't said anything about all of the corruption and dirty dealing being reported about Tom DeLay. It's something new and worse every day. I'm beginning to think he must be crooked, and I don't understand why the GOP keeps looking the other way about it. They're going to have do something about this mess."

.....then this just might grow into a problem big enough that it would force Tom DeLay to resign as Majorioty Leader. Maybe even resign from Congress.

That would be a goddamned shame, wouldn't it? Mr. Green
0 Replies
 
edgarblythe
 
  1  
Reply Mon 14 Mar, 2005 12:52 pm
Gotta nail him this time, PDiddie. We just got to.
0 Replies
 
Cycloptichorn
 
  1  
Reply Mon 14 Mar, 2005 12:54 pm
Jesus, I hope so.

I don't live in Houston anymore, but I really wonder what the hell goes on in sugarland that this clown keeps getting elected...

OH yeah, MONEY. I forgot.

Cycloptichorn
0 Replies
 
Cycloptichorn
 
  1  
Reply Tue 15 Mar, 2005 11:23 am
Quote:
Money: So Where Did It Go?

Newsweek
March 21 issue -

The FBI is trying to trace what happened to $2.5 million in payments to a conservative Washington think tank that were routed to accounts controlled by two lobbyists with close ties to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, NEWSWEEK has learned. The payments to the National Center for Public Policy Research were meant for a PR campaign promoting Indian gaming, center officials said.


The evidence mounts....

Cycloptichorn
0 Replies
 
JustWonders
 
  1  
Reply Wed 16 Mar, 2005 09:32 am
March 15, 2005, 9:57 a.m.

DeLay Tactics
Nancy Pelosi is so hot to go after her Republican counterpart, she's misjudging her battles.
By Eric Pfeiffer

Nancy Pelosi is picking the wrong fight with Tom DeLay.

Last week, the Washington Post reported that DeLay had accepted a paid trip from the Korea-United States Exchange Council (KORUSEC) in 2001. KORUSEC describes itself as a "nonpartisan, not-for-profit group that provides insight on various interests." Just days before DeLay's trip KORUSEC had changed its financial status by registering as a foreign agent. Under the new registration members of Congress are not allowed to accept such trips.

Pelosi responded to the Post's story by repeatedly insisting DeLay's involvement warranted investigation by the House Ethics Committee. Meanwhile, the media coverage of KORUSEC continues to focus almost exclusively on DeLay and any possible investigation of his trip by the House Ethics Committee.

However, buried in the 20th paragraph of last Thursday's Post reporting was acknowledgement that a Nancy Pelosi staffer had taken a comparable trip with KORUSEC in 2003. What's more, Pelosi's office had failed to file the required financial documentation for the trip until the Washington Post came looking for it. Other Democrats took part in KORUSEC trips as well.

Still, Pelosi continues to push for a DeLay investigation. When pressed on its merits she is short on evidence. When asked is she believes DeLay committed an ethics violation, Pelosi told the press, "I have no idea." When a reporter reminded Pelosi that she, like any member of Congress, has the power to call for an investigation of another member, Pelosi responded, "That's not a party leader's job." And finally, when questioned about Pelosi aide Eddie Charmaine Manansala and his KORUSEC trip during the summer of 2003, Pelosi asserted her belief that none of the recipients knew they were violating a congressional rule.

On this point, Pelosi likely is correct. Last Thursday, KORUSEC released a statement acknowledging, "Members of the Congress were assured by KORUSEC that these exchanges met with the approval of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, as we believed the case." In fact, at least one member of Congress, Jim McDermott, had his trip cleared through the Ethics Committee before proceeding.

No one has openly charged a rule violation was committed with the knowledge of DeLay or any of the trip's other recipients. In addition, KORUSEC is investigating whether their status change was even required under congressional rules.

If Pelosi continues to push for an investigation of DeLay it will backfire on her and Democrats.

American Public Radio tallied expenditures for so-called "power trips." In the reported listings, Democrats took 54 percent of such trips, spending $7,809,837 during 2,730 excursions. Nine of the top 10 spenders and the entire top five were Democrats. John Breaux led the field with $158,000 dollars spent. Robert Wexler, Gene Green, Maurice Hinchey, and Cal Dooley round out of the top five, all in the $150,000-dollar range. Jim McDermott and James Clyburn also made the top 10.

It took the Washington Post several days to acknowledge the bipartisan nature of these trips. Granted, as House Majority Leader, DeLay does deserve lead billing in coverage of the story. But to relegate mention of his Democratic counterpart Nancy Pelosi's comparable involvement to the story's 20th paragraph, the Washington Post made a conscious decision to shift focus of the story from all connected parties to almost exclusively on DeLay. The rest of the mainstream media has followed suit.

What's more, Pelosi doesn't come to the argument with a clean record. As recently as December of last year, some Republicans were pushing for an Ethics Committee investigation of Pelosi after she was fined $21,000 for collecting and distributing funds in excess of campaign-finance limits through two leadership political-action committees: PAC to the Future and Team Majority.

In order for an Ethics Committee investigation of the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council to take place, at least one Republican member of the committee must sign on. A number of Hill sources tell NRO the investigation could go forward and without controversy, but Pelosi and some Democrats are pushing for an exclusive investigation of Delay. West Virginia Democrat Alan B. Mollohan has presented a bill that would revoke rule changes made by Republicans, including the majority vote provision for ethics investigations. The Ethics Committee is the only congressional committee with an even party split. Mollohan claims to have the support of 194 fellow Democrats and one Republican, Chris Shays.

Meanwhile, DeLay and his allies are responding. A legal defense fund for DeLay has generated over $250,000 in contributions during the last few months. And the National Journal "insiders poll" of members of Congress shows a majority believe DeLay is a greater asset to Republicans than a liability. If Nancy Pelosi continues to threaten Tom DeLay with an Ethics Committee investigation over KORUSEC she will face mounting evidence against her claims and well-funded DeLay supporters ready to refute them.


http://www.nationalreview.com/script/printpage.asp?ref=/comment/pfeiffer200503150957.asp
0 Replies
 
BumbleBeeBoogie
 
  1  
Reply Wed 16 Mar, 2005 09:43 am
BBB
Everything you wanted to know about Tom DeLay:

http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Tom_DeLay
0 Replies
 
DrewDad
 
  1  
Reply Wed 16 Mar, 2005 11:54 am
JustWonders,

"The other guy did it, too" is neither a valid defense nor a valid argument.

A very poor attempt at deflection; we've come to expect better from you.
0 Replies
 
Dartagnan
 
  1  
Reply Wed 16 Mar, 2005 12:03 pm
Well, I give JustWonders credit for coming to DeLay's aid here. One could that she's defending the indefensible, but still...
0 Replies
 
JustWonders
 
  1  
Reply Wed 16 Mar, 2005 12:13 pm
Dad & D'Art - I merely offered the thoughts of another person's perspective in the face of Pelosi's rantings and finger-pointing at Tom Delay.

My own personal feeling is that this scandal should not be about whether DeLay or Pelosi broke a rule governing who gets to (and who shouldn't) pay for their trips, but that they are taking trips paid for by others in the first place.

Were I a business owner, you can be assured I would not allow my employees to accept trips paid for by people with whom I wanted to do business. I'd feel more comfortable paying the costs myself if I thought it necessary for an employee to travel for my business interests.

I think it should be the same with a government employee (be it Senator, Congressman, or whatever). If they feel a trip is in the best interest of the taxpayers, then let them make the case for the US Government to pay for it. If they aren't comfy doing that, then probably that's not a trip they should be taking.

I'm not defending DeLay and I realize I should have stated how I personally feel in my first post on this thread. I really don't think two wrongs make a right.
0 Replies
 
dyslexia
 
  1  
Reply Wed 16 Mar, 2005 12:15 pm
all you need to know: Bush said he has confidence in House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's leadership as the Texas Republican faces allegations of ethical violations.
0 Replies
 
oralloy
 
  0  
Reply Wed 16 Mar, 2005 07:51 pm
revel wrote:
Laughing

But seriously, where is the hue and cry from the right? Why don't they get rid of him themselves?



After all the false charges the DNC piled on Newt, followed by them placing Clinton above the law for actual charges, I'm amazed that the DNC even thinks they have a moral basis for making accusations against another Republican.

Anyway, given what happened with Newt, all the allegations against Delay are almost certainly fabricated. Thus I doubt Republicans will bother much with them.
0 Replies
 
 

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