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Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: longnshort who wrote (44014)	5/2/2005 11:54:22 AM
From: American Spirit	Respond to of 173976

Delay's scandals are 100-1000 times bigger. DOn't you get it?

To: longnshort who wrote (44014)	5/2/2005 12:04:18 PM
From: Glenn Petersen	Respond to of 173976

DeLay has made mistakes, though many errors -- such as playing golf overseas on a special interest's dime -- hardly warrant the death penalty. Former aides and associates have entered Washington's bipartisan culture of lobbying greed, though DeLay cannot be held responsible for them. He has been rude to reporters, lobbyists and even colleagues, though that is a common failing among strong leaders. The overriding point is that DeLay is the most important Republican leader in Congress. That is why Bush was pictured with him on newspaper front pages all over America Wednesday morning. During the day, when RSC leaders met with the president, Pence expressed his organization's appreciation for that gesture. DeLay figures to be around longer than the conventional wisdom imagines. suntimes.com DeLay still at peak of his powers May 2, 2005 BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST The embattled Majority Leader Tom DeLay rose on the floor of the House Thursday to note the unexpected rediscovery in eastern Arkansas of the supposedly extinct ivory-billed woodpecker. He added that the budget resolution pending in the House contained federal entitlement reforms, "whose prospects for survival, critics said, were not much better than the survival of the ivory-billed woodpecker." Indeed, only a few hours earlier, House-watchers felt DeLay faced an uphill fight to pass the budget agreed to the previous night. Conservatives threatened to rebel, claiming insufficient restraint on Medicaid. Could DeLay avoid disaster? He did, with the final version of the budget passing the House 214- 211. Only four identifiable Republican conservatives voted no (joining unanimous Democratic opposition). DeLay again had mobilized the House's slender GOP majority. Beyond getting his conservative base to accept Senate modifications, he wants basic change in the way the House functions and is ahead of President Bush in seeking daring tax reform. Whereas Newt Gingrich had become dysfunctional by the time he was forced out as speaker of the House in 1998, DeLay is at the peak of his powers as Democrats mount an accelerating attack on him. That explains why, in the face of this onslaught, GOP House members have been firm in sticking with him. The chatter in Capitol corridors Thursday morning was that DeLay, while serving as the punching bag for Democrats, confronted a grass-roots revolt from members of the conservative Republican Study Committee. In the Senate, Republican liberals and moderates had been kept on board by trimming spending reductions from $40 billion to $30 billion, including Medicaid cuts. The RSC and its chairman, Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, were distraught and ready to abandon ship. At that point, Thursday afternoon, DeLay sat down with Pence and other RSC leaders. House conservatives are accustomed to getting marching orders from Republican leaders, but DeLay reasoned with them this time. He convinced the RSC that months from now there would be cuts in actual spending under the "reconciliation" process for the first time in seven years. "I believe there would be no budget resolution but for the leadership of Tom DeLay," Pence told me. After meeting with DeLay, Pence messaged RSC members urging a "yes" vote on the budget. "We can do better and we will do better," Pence later said in floor speech, "but this budget that we will adopt today is a good start." DeLay's importance goes beyond putting out fires. DeLay has concentrated on changing the internal structure of the House, which was shaped by Democrats during 40 years in power. He has concentrated on altering the Appropriations Committee's mentality and culture. The appropriators no longer constitute a virtual third party, aimed at winning over more than 400 out of 435 members on appropriations bills. DeLay still has a long way to go, but the system is becoming less congenial to old-fashioned Democratic spending. DeLay also is committed to the "Fair Tax" plan of fellow Texan Leo Linbeck, which would eliminate the federal income tax in its entirety and replace it with a national sales tax. While Bush is engaged in a laborious process starting with a bipartisan committee headed by two former senators, DeLay wants to bring his radical proposal to the House floor next year. DeLay has made mistakes, though many errors -- such as playing golf overseas on a special interest's dime -- hardly warrant the death penalty. Former aides and associates have entered Washington's bipartisan culture of lobbying greed, though DeLay cannot be held responsible for them. He has been rude to reporters, lobbyists and even colleagues, though that is a common failing among strong leaders. The overriding point is that DeLay is the most important Republican leader in Congress. That is why Bush was pictured with him on newspaper front pages all over America Wednesday morning. During the day, when RSC leaders met with the president, Pence expressed his organization's appreciation for that gesture. DeLay figures to be around longer than the conventional wisdom imagines.

To: longnshort who wrote (44014)	5/2/2005 2:34:39 PM
From: Land Shark	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 173976

WASHINGTON, April 5 - The wife and daughter of Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, have been paid more than $500,000 since 2001 by Mr. DeLay's political action and campaign committees, according to a detailed review of disclosure statements filed with the Federal Election Commission and separate fund-raising records in Mr. DeLay's home state, Texas. Most of the payments to his wife, Christine A. DeLay, and his only child, Dani DeLay Ferro, were described in the disclosure forms as "fund-raising fees," "campaign management" or "payroll," with no additional details about how they earned the money. The payments appear to reflect what Mr. DeLay's aides say is the central role played by the majority leader's wife and daughter in his political career.

To: longnshort who wrote (44014)	5/2/2005 2:35:28 PM
From: Land Shark	Respond to of 173976

A six-day trip to Moscow in 1997 by then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the trip arrangements. DeLay reported that the trip was sponsored by a Washington-based nonprofit organization. But interviews with those involved in planning DeLay's trip say the expenses were covered by a mysterious company registered in the Bahamas that also paid for an intensive $440,000 lobbying campaign.