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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (214185)	1/3/2005 3:01:01 PM
From: Road Walker	Respond to of 1574267

Desperate House Republicans Mon Jan 3,11:23 AM ET Op/Ed - The Nation Ari Berman We're bringing in the New Year with an update on a most prolific "Nefarious Character"--Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. 2004 was a turbulent time for "The Hammer," as the bipartisan House Ethics Committee rebuked DeLay on three occasions, the first reprove from the usually passive panel in seven years. In retaliation, House Republicans scrapped their own so-called "indictment rule" in closed-door fashion, insulating DeLay from a possible indictment in Texas on corruption charges. (Click here to sign the petition urging Congress to repeal the "DeLay Rule.") As the 109th Congress takes power, Republicans are planning to further shred the rules, eviscerating any remaining shred of accountability or oversight. New GOP proposals would subvert the House Code of Conduct, create new barriers for Ethics Committee investigations and possibly even replace the panel's ranking Republican member, Joel Hefley (R-CO). Republicans will discuss the changes today, before the entire House votes tomorrow. A coalition of eight nonpartisan watchdog groups say the strong-arm tactics will "cripple the already weak ethics process in the House." Moreover, Rep. Hefley's two hometown newspapers, the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News--both of whom endorsed Bush in 2004--called his critics "boneheaded" and "stupid," respectively. (Tellingly, Hefley was the only GOP member of the Ethics panel who did not accept campaign contributions from DeLay's political action committee.) For doing his job, Hefley is likely to lose it. And, come tomorrow, the new conservative House will likely delete language requiring members to act "in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House." Credibility is something this bunch--led by DeLay--decidedly lacks.