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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tsigprofit who wrote (21360)	6/12/2005 3:37:48 PM
From: SiouxPal	Respond to of 361148

Court Files Shed Light on DeLay's PAC Ties 6-12-05 * Evidence in a lawsuit may show deeper involvement with the controversial Texans for a Republican Majority than the congressman has acknowledged. By Scott Gold, Times Staff Writer AUSTIN, Texas — When a judge said last month that a political committee founded by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay had broken the law by failing to report $500,000 in donations, the Texas congressman distanced himself from the matter. DeLay's representatives insisted that he was a mere figurehead of the committee, Texans for a Republican Majority. He had no control over its day-to-day operation, they said, and his lawyer dismissed suggestions of impropriety as "outlandish." But in summer 2002, a crucial period of fundraising and activism for the committee, DeLay stepped off an airplane in Austin and received a list of people who were to attend a fundraiser billed as "a private meeting with Tom DeLay." Three days earlier, a Texans for a Republican Majority staffer had e-mailed three other DeLay associates to ask for the list. "Have that on the ground in Austin for T.D.," he wrote. The 11 lobbyists and executives on the roster had an ambitious wish list in Austin and Washington. Among them were representatives of the chemical industry, a wheelchair distributor and a powerful Texas law firm with strong ties to the GOP. A database analysis shows that between 2000 and 2004, the groups represented that day gave at least $323,000 to DeLay's campaigns or political committees, including $77,500 to Texans for a Republican Majority. None of that money was donated at the meeting itself, and the donations were just a tiny portion of the millions DeLay has helped raise in recent years to dispense to conservative politicians through an innovative operation that has given him rare power in Washington and Texas. But the roster of attendees, DeLay's interest in the event and the ensuing donations do illuminate the private world where DeLay builds his political base. The fundraiser was one of several similar events described in GOP activists' files, which were subpoenaed in a lawsuit brought by five Democratic candidates here. Watchdog groups say the documents suggest that DeLay's involvement in the committee — which he founded in 2001 using $50,000 provided by a parallel group he had run for years in Washington, Americans for a Republican Majority — was deeper than he has acknowledged. In one August 2002 e-mail, for instance, a DeLay fundraiser asked a fellow aide for a "top 10 list" of potential donors to Texans for a Republican Majority. The e-mail said DeLay would personally contact certain prospects. Another exchange suggested that two donor checks would be delivered to DeLay himself. Fred Lewis, director of Campaigns for People, an Austin group that tries to reduce the influence of money on government, said it was telling that during the fundraising drive that summer, DeLay was cited as a donor draw. "Now that there are scandals, it turns out he wasn't involved," Lewis said. "Both can't be true. I find it almost comical…. The evidence is overwhelming that he was much more involved than what they say." DeLay's representatives have denied that the congressman handled checks personally. In an interview, his Washington lawyer, Bobby Burchfield, said DeLay had no control over how donations were accepted or how money was spent. Critics "want to get rid of Tom DeLay, and they make no bones about it," Burchfield said. "Anything can appear improper to someone who is looking for a problem. There is nothing that violates legal standards or recognized standards of ethics here." Late last month, a Texas judge ruled that the treasurer of Texans for a Republican Majority broke the law when he failed to report $532,233 in corporate money raised during the 2002 campaign. The ruling came in the lawsuit brought by Democratic Party candidates who lost that year. The elections of 2002 were pivotal for Texas Republicans, who — using, in part, $1.5 million raised by Texans for a Republican Majority — took control of the governor's mansion and both chambers of the Legislature. At DeLay's urging, Texas lawmakers used their clout to draw new congressional district maps. Those maps produced a six-seat swing in the Texas congressional delegation last year, shoring up the GOP majority in Congress. Democrats and campaign finance watchdog groups have alleged wrongdoing, largely because about a third of the money raised by Texans for a Republican Majority — founded by DeLay in 2001 — came from corporations. Texas law bans corporate contributions to legislative candidates. The dispute over whether the corporate money was used illegally in the election has prompted several lawsuits, and a prosecutor in Austin is conducting a criminal investigation

To: tsigprofit who wrote (21360)	6/12/2005 4:17:11 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 361148

A Former Bush Team Member Says WTC Collapse Likely A Controlled Demolition... globalnewsmatrix.com >>A former chief economist in the Labor Department during President Bush's first term now believes the official story about the collapse of the WTC is 'bogus,' saying it is more likely that a controlled demolition destroyed the Twin Towers and adjacent Building No. 7. "If demolition destroyed three steel skyscrapers at the World Trade Center on 9/11, then the case for an 'inside job' and a government attack on America would be compelling," said Morgan Reynolds, Ph.D, a former member of the Bush team who also served as director of the Criminal Justice Center at the National Center for Policy Analysis headquartered in Dallas, TX. Reynolds, now a professor emeritus at Texas A&M University, also believes it's 'next to impossible' that 19 Arab Terrorists alone outfoxed the mighty U.S. military, adding the scientific conclusions about the WTC collapse may hold the key to the entire mysterious plot behind 9/11. "It is hard to exaggerate the importance of a scientific debate over the cause(s) of the collapse of the twin towers and building 7," said Reynolds this week from his offices at Texas A&M. "If the official wisdom on the collapses is wrong, as I believe it is, then policy based on such erroneous engineering analysis is not likely to be correct either. The government's collapse theory is highly vulnerable on its own terms. Only professional demolition appears to account for the full range of facts associated with the collapse of the three buildings. After considering both sides of the 9/11 debate and after thoroughly sifting through all the available material, Reynolds concludes the government story regarding all four plane crashes on 9/11 remains highly suspect. "In fact, the government has failed to produce significant wreckage from any of the four alleged airliners that fateful day. The familiar photo of the Flight 93 crash site in Pennsylvania shows no fuselage, engine or anything recognizable as a plane, just a smoking hole in the ground," said Reynolds. "Photographers reportedly were not allowed near the hole. Neither the FBI nor the National Transportation Safety Board have investigated or produced any report on the alleged airliner crashes." <<