. . Mr. DeLay, who, in the debate over gun control after the
Columbine shootings, insisted that juvenile violence is the result
of day care, birth control and the teaching of evolution.
Machine at Work
July 13, 2004
By PAUL KRUGMAN
From a business point of view, Enron is a smoking ruin. But
there's important evidence in the rubble.
If Enron hadn't collapsed, we might still have only
circumstantial evidence that energy companies artificially
drove up prices during California's electricity crisis.
Because of that collapse, we have direct evidence in the
form of the now-infamous Enron tapes - although the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission and the Justice Department
tried to prevent their release.
Now, e-mail and other Enron documents are revealing why Tom
DeLay, the House majority leader, is one of the most
powerful men in America.
A little background: at the Republican convention, most
featured speakers will be social moderates like Rudy
Giuliani and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A moderate facade is
necessary to win elections in a generally tolerant nation.
But real power in the party rests with hard-line social
conservatives like Mr. DeLay, who, in the debate over gun
control after the Columbine shootings, insisted that
juvenile violence is the result of day care, birth control
and the teaching of evolution.
Here's the puzzle: if Mr. DeLay's brand of conservatism is
so unpopular that it must be kept in the closet during the
convention, how can people like him really run the party?
In Mr. DeLay's case, a large part of the answer is his
control over corporate cash. As far back as 1996, one
analyst described Mr. DeLay as the "chief enforcer of
company contributions to Republicans." Some of that cash
has flowed through Americans for a Republican Majority,
called Armpac, a political action committee Mr. DeLay
founded in 1994. By dispensing that money to other
legislators, he gains their allegiance; this, in turn,
allows him to deliver favors to his corporate contributors.
Four of the five Republicans on the House ethics committee,
where a complaint has been filed against Mr. DeLay, are
past recipients of Armpac money.
The complaint, filed by Representative Chris Bell of Texas,
contends, among other things, that Mr. DeLay laundered
illegal corporate contributions for use in Texas elections.
And that's where Enron enters the picture.
In May 2001, according to yesterday's Washington Post,
Enron lobbyists in Washington informed Ken Lay via e-mail
that Mr. DeLay was seeking $100,000 in additional donations
to his political action committee, with the understanding
that it would be partly spent on "the redistricting effort
in Texas." The Post says it has "at least a dozen"
documents showing that Mr. DeLay and his associates
directed money from corporate donors and lobbyists to an
effort to win control of the Texas Legislature so the
Republican Party could redraw the state's political
districts.
Enron, which helped launch Armpac, was happy to oblige,
especially because Mr. DeLay was helping the firm's effort
to secure energy deregulation legislation, even as its
traders boasted to one another about how they were rigging
California's deregulated market and stealing millions each
day from "Grandma Millie."
The Texas redistricting, like many of Mr. DeLay's actions,
broke all the usual rules of political fair play. But when
you believe, as Mr. DeLay does, that God is using you to
promote a "biblical worldview" in politics, the usual rules
don't apply. And the redistricting worked - it is a major
reason why anything short of a Democratic tidal wave in
November is likely to leave the House in Republican hands.
There is, however, one problem: a 100-year-old Texas law
bars corporate financing of State Legislature campaigns. An
inquiry is under way, and Mr. DeLay has hired two criminal
defense lawyers. Stay tuned.
But you shouldn't conclude that the system is working. Mr.
DeLay's current predicament is an accident. The party
machine that he has done so much to create has eliminated
most of the checks and balances in our government. Again
and again, Republicans in Congress have closed ranks to
block or emasculate politically inconvenient
investigations. If Enron hadn't collapsed, and if Texas
didn't still have a campaign finance law that is a relic of
its populist past, Mr. DeLay would be in no danger at all.
The larger picture is this: Mr. DeLay and his fellow
hard-liners, whose values are far from the American
mainstream, have forged an immensely effective alliance
with corporate interests. And they may be just one election
away from achieving a long-term lock on power.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/13/opinion/13KRUG.html?ex=1090720241&ei=1&en=ab2752f8734a1336
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
