CNN: "House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has been subpoenaed to testify in a Texas civil lawsuit about his role in using government resources to track down Democratic legislators who fled the state during last year's bitter redistricting dispute." Worse, to cover up his misuse of public resources, Delay allegedly destroyed the evidence (documents detailing the activity). So, want to see just what arrogant S.O.B's. Delay and his minion are? Delay "spokesman" Jonathan Grella said: "This is a cheap publicity stunt on something that has no connection to Tom DeLay. It's a frivolous matter that's already been rendered moot and everyone should consider the source." Diversion of federal and state funds for personal political ends and shredding the evidence is FRIVOLOUS? Doesn't that just say it all! These creeps think they are above all laws.

A Buzzflash Editorial: "Tom DeLay is a former exterminator and Vietnam draft avoider who has risen in prominence to essentially control the Congress of the United States. His official title is Majority Leader of the House of Representatives. But he is much, much more than that. This demented man, who wanted Clinton impeached because he didn't share DeLay's 'Biblical world view,' pretty much sets the agenda for our national legislative branch. Along with Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and Antonin Scalia, DeLay runs the American government. These guys just send George W. Bush out to read a script, shake hands and give people nicknames. Read what Tom DeLay has to say, and then don't vote for ANY Republican. It's the price that even the occasional 'reasonable' Republican pays for being in a party that has Tom DeLay setting the national legislative agenda."

SF Chronicle: "House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and a host of groups promoting ethics in government called Thursday on Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, the powerful House Republican majority leader, to step down or be ousted after his third rebuke from the ethics committee in a week... In its latest finding, the 10-member, bipartisan ethics committee cited DeLay for creating an appearance of giving donors special access by hosting a June 2002 fund-raising golf outing for energy lobbyists while Congress considered energy legislation. It also rebuked DeLay for using the Federal Aviation Administration to try to track a plane that Democratic state legislators in Texas flew out of state during last year's redistricting battle to stall a vote. The committee put off acting on a third matter involving alleged money laundering [for which] DeLay aides have been indicted in Texas in that case."

US Newswire: "The Congressional Ethics Coalition, an ideologically diverse coalition of eight leading government reform organizations, released the following statement regarding the indictment of several top aides to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. The coalition members are the Campaign Legal Center, the Center for Responsive Politics, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government, Common Cause, Democracy 21, Judicial Watch, Public Campaign and Public Citizen. 'The Ethics Committee has a clear responsibility to investigate whether Mr. DeLay violated ethics rules in the course of his leadership of TRMPAC and ARMPAC, both of which are the subject of the criminal indictments announced yesterday in Texas...If these charges do not persuade the Ethics Committee that there is sufficient evidence to at least open an investigation into the pending DeLay matter, it is almost impossible to imagine what would.' "

"A Travis County grand jury returned 32 indictments in the 2002 Republican fund-raising investigation Tuesday, alleging felony election code violations against a top aide to U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, the head of a political group DeLay founded and eight corporations that provided money for their activities. Among the companies indicted on grounds that corporate money was illegally funneled into the 2002 legislative elections were Sears and Roebuck, Westar Energy Inc., Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Bacardi USA. Three people were indicted: John Colyandro, former executive director of Texans for a Republican Majority, a group DeLay founded; Warren RoBold, a DeLay fund-raiser; and Jim Ellis, a top DeLay political aide."

The list of crimes perpetrated against the American people and human ethics in general by Tom Delay, one of Bush's chief Congressional thugs (er, allies) is long indeed. So long that just summarizing his primary offenses over the past four years takes up an entire lengthy article. Some examples: Sent thugs to Miami to disrupt the 2000 Presidential election recount, took thousands in bribes from Enron, Ran a racketeering operation called the Republican Majority Issues Commission; used his own daughter once to launder campaign funds; sold "favors dispensing" meetings to top Bush donors; threatened fellow congressfolk to ram through Medicare Reform ripoff; used a children's charity to launder campaign funds; ran a boiler room fundraising operation that scammed first small business owners, then doctors....and the list goes on and on.

AP: "Four of the five House ethics committee Republicans investigating Majority Leader Tom DeLay have accepted money in the past from the fund-raising operation involved in the complaint against him. The Texas Republican's political action committee [read corporate front group], Americans for a Republican Majority, or ARMPAC, contributed $38,731 to four standing ethics committee members in the 1994 to 2004 election cycles, according the Center for Responsive Politics and PoliticalMoneyLine, groups that track political money. Ethics committee members who got money include Doc Hastings of Washington, $5,930; Judy Biggert of Illinois, $1,764; Kenny Hulshof of Missouri, $14,964; and Steven LaTourette of Ohio, $16,073. Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., the ethics panel's chairman, did not receive any contributions from ARMPAC during the period." One out of five ain't bad for the Repugs (snicker).

"In May 2001, Enron's top lobbyists in Washington advised the company chairman that Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was pressing for a $100,000 contribution to his political action committee, in addition to the $250,000 the company had already pledged to the Republican Party that year. DeLay requested that the new donation come from 'a combination of corporate and personal money from Enron's executives,' with the understanding that it would be partly spent on 'the redistricting effort in Texas,' said the e-mail to Kenneth L. Lay from lobbyists Rick Shapiro and Linda Robertson. The e-mail, which surfaced in a subsequent federal probe of Houston-based Enron, is one of at least a dozen documents obtained by The Washington Post that show DeLay and his associates directed money from corporations and Washington lobbyists to Republican campaign coffers in Texas in 2001 and 2002 as part of a plan to redraw the state's congressional districts." Indict DeLay Now!

"Four of the five Republicans investigating an ethics complaint against Tom DeLay have received campaign contributions from DeLay's political action committee [totaling $28,504]... Rep. Chris Bell, D-Houston, has claimed DeLay illegally solicited campaign contributions in return for legislative favors and laundered illegal corporate contributions for use in Texas elections. Bell also alleged that DeLay improperly used his office to solicit help from federal agencies in searching for Democratic legislators who slipped out of Texas during last year's redistricting fight. DeLay, who says the charges are unfounded and amateurish, has until July 22 to formally answer the complaint, if he wishes... The committee's next public step will be to dismiss the charges or to create an investigative subcommittee -- with two Republicans and two Democrats -- a decision that must be made by the first week of August, though more time can be requested." We demand the recusal of all 4 Republicans!

Public Citizen "applauds Rep. Chris Bell (D-Texas) for breaking the unspoken agreement among all members of the House of Representatives not to file complaints against each other on ethics violations, regardless how egregious. By acting, Rep. Bell becomes the first House member to tear down the wall of silence on ethics complaints that for years has shielded representatives from being held accountable for serious lapses in ethical behavior. It is all the more courageous given that the complaint was filed against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas)." Some of Delay's ethics violations make Don Corleone look like a choir boy! "Rep. Bell's action is a major accomplishment because it helps re-establish the enforcement of ethics in the House of Representatives."

The list of crimes perpetrated against the American people and human ethics in general by Tom Delay is long indeed. So long that just summarizing his primary offenses over the past four years takes up an entire lengthy article. Some examples: Sent thugs to Miami to disrupt the 2000 Presidential election recount, took thousands in bribes from Enron, Ran a racketeering operation called the Republican Majority Issues Commission; used his own daughter once to launder campaign funds; sold "favors dispensing" meetings to top Bush donors; threatened fellow congressfolk to ram through Medicare Reform ripoff; used a children's charity to launder campaign funds; ran a boiler room fundraising operation that scammed first small business owners, then doctors....and the list goes on and on.

"A Democratic congressman plans to file a wide-ranging ethics complaint today against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), shattering the remnants of a seven-year-old, truce between the two parties and possibly nudging the House back toward a brand of political warfare that helped topple two speakers. The complaint, accuses the House's second-ranking Republican of soliciting campaign contributions in return for legislative favors; laundering illegal campaign contributions through a Texas political action committee; and improperly involving a federal agency in a Texas partisan matter...A DeLay ally, Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.), said Republicans 'are going to have to respond in kind... From now on, it's a matter of 'you kill my dog, I'll kill your cat.' " Doolittle said he plans to file ethics charges against a prominent Democrat."

On 6/11/04, "NOW with Bill Moyers looks at House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, arguably the most powerful and controversial member of Congress today and some of his fundraising activities. In March 2003, Texans for Public Justice (TPJ) filed a complaint with Travis County District Attorney Ronald Earle, asking his office to investigate apparent Texas Election Code violations by Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC). This political action committee associated with Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, is now under investigation for illegal use of corporate donations to get candidates elected to state office." Check your local listings.

US Newswire "Tom Delay today demanded an apology from Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi for comments she made accusing Resident Bush of being responsible for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq." We hear she also observed that Bush is incompetent. Delay, Hasert, et al. were apparently infuriated at hearing such frank honesty in the halls of Capitol Hill, especially since they were certain they had stamped the practice out long ago. "Nancy Pelosi should apologize for her irresponsible, dangerous rhetoric," DeLay said. "She apparently is so caught up in partisan hatred for pResident Bush that her words are putting American lives at risk." He then suggested Pelosi either be taken out and shot as an example or shipped to Guantanamo (harhar).

Now here's one for the books...comic books, anyway. In Tom Delay's latest psychopathic rant (brought to you through US Newswire at taxpayer expense), he claims that all regulations are EVIL: "Regulation is a job-killing, career-stagnating menace that is really just taxation's evil twin. All you have to do is imagine the Internal Revenue Code dressed in black with an eye patch, and you've got the federal register." Sounds like Tom might be missing some medication....? Of course, "regulations" include the Clean Air Act, all child safety laws, guidelines insuring that the drugs in those overpriced prescriptions are at least what they claim to be...etc. We can think of two better candidates as evil "twins" : Tom Delay and Dick Cheney.

"A national conservative group is asking federal prosecutors to drop an investigation into the financial activities of a political committee founded by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay... The American Conservative Union told U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton of San Antonio that the 2002 campaign finance activities of DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority should not be subject to a criminal investigation... The advocacy organization Judicial Watch has filed a complaint against Texans for a Republican Majority, claiming it conducted illegal money laundering in 2002 to funnel corporate money to GOP candidates for the Texas House... The Judicial Watch complaint was filed by regional director Russell Verney. 'It doesn't pass the smell test,' Verney said. He dismissed the idea that it was a common practice. 'I understand that everybody in politics thinks the laws don't apply to political campaign funding. It may well be a common practice. That doesn't mean it isn't illegal,' Verney said."

Juanita Jean writes: "Tom DeLay's appearance at the Rosenberg Civic Center last weekend to explain teacher retirement was everything I could have wished for - Tom was arrogant, rude, patronizing, and I have 400 witnesses to prove it. And then, as if determined to make this the best day of my entire life, Tom threatened to have people 'removed' and would not allow the news media into the room. Thank you, Tom! I owe you a big one, Bub. For years, everybody thought I was exaggerating about your rotten attitude until you came to Rosenberg and made me look like Miss Understatement Festival Queen. However, I did think that my fellow audience members were a little rough on Tom with all their booing and sardonic laughter... And, worse yet, [he was] laughed at. By mostly women. Hundreds of them. It restored my faith in sisterhood."

Now here's a painful contrast! First, here's a statesmanlike comment by Jimmy Carter on Iraq: "President Bush's war was ill-advised and unnecessary and based on erroneous statements, and has turned out to be a tragedy. And my prayer has been that brave young American men and women, and others who are there, that their lives will be spared and there will be some peaceful resolution of the war." Now here's the buffoonish response of Tom Delay: "I'm just glad President Carter wasn't in charge after Valley Forge, Bull Run, or Pearl Harbor," adding that Carter's "pattern" of statements is "dangerous!" This "no reason for being" press release, which cost several hundred dollars, is paid for by taxpayers!

Tom Delay is one of the least compassionate, least ethical human beings we can think of right off hand (and there are plenty of possibilities to choose from these days!). To hide this reality from the public, he has routinely used children - making a big show of donating to children's causes, copping photo ops, etc. He has also used children as bait to solicit big bucks for political purposes - his own and Bush's. (see http://www.loper.org/~george/archives/2003/Nov/948.html) In fact, this latest outrage has resulted in calls for a major investigation. Now, with the heat on, Delay is again using children by introducing a sympathy-grabbing bill designed to give him a "halo." Worse, critics say the hastily slapped together bill, that would allow abused children to be placed in foster care beyond state lines, is an invitation to widespread child exploitation with reduced oversight.

Roll Call reports, "House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) has begun quiet discussions with a handful of colleagues about the possibility that he will have to step down from his leadership post temporarily if he is indicted by a Texas grand jury investigating alleged campaign finance abuses.... Republican Conference rules state that a member of the elected leadership who has been indicted on a felony carrying a penalty of at least two years in prison must temporarily step down from the post." Kevin Drum responds, "I actually like George Bush compared to Tom DeLay. Few things would make me happier than to see the former bug exterminator get squashed himself. Please, please, please make this happen. Ple-e-e-e-ease!" Amen to that!

Why do they let DeLay out in public without a handler - much less let him continue to spend thousands of taxpayer dollar each month on endless semi-rational to irrational press releases dumped into US Newswire? Delay's latest? He claims that the only "furriners" supporting Kerry must be "rogue leaders." What a hoot! Considering the fact that the foreign leaders that support Bush include Tony Blair, Ghadaffi, and Ahmed Chalabi, that leaves quite a few "rogues," eh? The Bugman needs some rabies shots, quick!

"As the Observer goes to press, Speaker Craddick has recently hired one of the state's finest criminal defense attorneys to help him respond to a subpoena from a Travis County grand jury investigating the 2002 election. In what has the potential to be the biggest legislative scandal since 1971, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is investigating an allegedly wide-ranging conspiracy to funnel illegal corporate money into legislative elections. As the Observer chronicled last August ['Rise of the Machine,' Aug. 29, 2003], the Texas Association of Business and the Tom DeLay-created Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee used about $2.5 million in corporate cash to help elect a handpicked Republican majority that would crown Craddick speaker. New evidence now makes clear that Craddick was a central figure in those efforts, and raises the possibility that the Midland Republican broke the law to obtain his long-sought victory."

Incredible! Tom Delay couldn't have offended more people in so few words if he'd tried to! First, he presumes to speak for 'most American parents', claiming they were all "appalled" by the roughly 1-sec. glimpse of Janet J's breast. Second, he claims ALL American industries do best when self-regulated (yeah, right, we've all seen how THAT works out!), Third, he presumes to speak for ALL of Congress and its intentions regarding the media, Fourth, he calls for Congressional censorship of the media, and last, but most colossally offensive, he likens the Superbowl incident to 9/11 by referring to the "post Superbowl environment" - the same rhetoric used to describe the "post 9/11 environment." Not even the most conservative Americans are insensitive enough to ever dream of comparing the two events! But then again, Delay is in a class by himself...somewhere between cockroach and troglodyte.

"A broad, ideologically diverse coalition of watchdog groups will challenge the U.S. House of Representatives to completely overhaul its moribund ethics oversight procedures. The briefing will be held on Tuesday, March 2 at 10:00 a.m. in the West Room of the National Press Club in Washington. The group will discuss the current controversies involving Rep. Nick Smith (R-MI) and Tom DeLay (R-TX) and will present an analysis of the few matters the House Ethics Committee has pursued - and the many it has refused to pursue - since 1997. They will discuss the 'triple threat' of factors leading to the current crisis, and make recommendations for reinvigorating the system." Among the coalition groups are the Campaign Legal Center, Democracy 21. Judicial Watch, Common Cause, the Center for Responsive Politics, Public Citizen, Citizens for Responsive Politics, Public Citizen, and Public Campaign.

From the DNC's Kicking Ass blog: "A political action committee created by Tom DeLay is under investigation for a wide range of law-breaking activities, including misusing corporate donations to influence races in the Texas state legislature. 'But local prosecutors and a grand jury here have been investigating the committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, including its use of corporate donations in the election, lawyers close to the case said. Investigators are also examining whether there were violations of a law intended to curb the ability of outside groups to influence the race for House speaker, the lawyers said. The investigation follows a complaint filed with prosecutors last year by Texans for Public Justice, a campaign watchdog group.' And in what may be the one of the most egregious examples of burying the lead ever found in a newspaper story, the LAST TWO PARAGRAPHS describe how DeLay's committee may have laundered campaign money through the Republican National Committee."

The Progress Report features this 'Right-Wing Culturally Insensitive Quote of the Day': "'I have seen these liberal psychologists and sociologists talk about there is no need for the man in the family. The woman can take care of it. A woman can take care of the family. It takes a man to provide structure. To provide stability.' House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), in an interview, on the role of women in the home. (Christine DeLay 'quickly realized that her hubby was treading on dangerous territory,' admonishing, 'Let's edit this out,' she said. 'This is not a good thing for you to be saying.')"

LA Times: "Authorities are conducting a criminal investigation into whether corporate money, including hundreds of thousands of dollars linked to U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, improperly financed the Republican Party's takeover of the Texas Capitol. The probe is focused on several political and fundraising organizations run by Republican activists, investigators said. One of the organizations, the political action committee Texans for a Republican Majority, has direct ties to DeLay, a Texas Republican and one of the most powerful politicians in Washington."

"Watching him spew hateful rhetoric is like watching Picasso go to work on a blank canvas. Except instead of using oil on canvas, DeLay's preferred medium is verbal garbage on the public record. Which leads us to this bombshell: REP. DeLAY: You know, the Democrats want to balance the budget by raising spending and raising taxes. The Soviet Union had a balanced budget. Apparently sensing he hadn't gone far enough with his comparisons to morons, hippies and the French, DeLay kicked his rhetoric into a higher gear later in the show and compared Democrats to communists because they're pushing for a balanced budget. This statement is the 'Guernica' of hateful political diatribes. What better way to cap off a command performance than some good old-fashioned red-baiting? This must constitute getting into the Christmas spirit for DeLay: calling Democrats dirty Greens and treacherous Reds."

The Austin American-Statesman reports: "When U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay attends a fund-raiser in Austin today, the invitations to donate to his re-election campaign will warn, 'No Corporate Money.' It's a timely reminder. Just a few blocks from the event at the Inter-Continental Stephen F. Austin Hotel, a Travis County grand jury is investigating whether Texans for a Republican Majority violated state law by using corporate money to help elect state lawmakers during last year's election. At DeLay's direction, one of his top associates set up the political action committee. DeLay was among the group's advisers and marquee names that drew $1.5 million in donations, including about $600,000 from corporations... The group, commonly referred to as ARM-PAC, is one of the nation's largest 'leadership PACs.' It donated $1.2 million to U.S. House candidates and the national GOP in 2002."

AP reports: "Two watchdog groups filed a complaint Thursday against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, asking that the Internal Revenue Service deny a tax exemption to a DeLay-backed charity that will throw parties and offer a luxury suite for major donors to watch President Bush's acceptance speech at the 2004 Republican Convention. 'Celebrations for Children' will raise money for abused and neglected children by using the events at the New York convention in August as a drawing card, paying for them with a portion of the donations to the group. 'Representative DeLay is using the nation's charity tax laws and the pretext of helping children as a cynical cover to raise and spend huge amounts of prohibited soft money to finance political activities,' said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21."

Looks like there's no honor - or apparently even peace - among thieves. Today, in US Newswire, Tom DeLay dumped a press release in which he "denounced" the "so-called Geneva Initiative" - an alternative Middle East Pease plan worked out by Palestinian and Israeli moderates. Here's a sample of DeLay's statement: "House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) today rejected the unofficial, so-called 'Geneva Plan' for the Middle East as illegitimate and dangerous, and urged world leaders to do the same." Then, less than six hours later, Arab News ran this headline: "Bush Backs Geneva Initiative." The report quoted Bush on the Initiative: "I think it's productive, so long as they adhere to the principles of that internationally drafted blueprint (road map)." Well, folks, looks like we're going to get a chance to see who really runs the White House! If Bush backs away from his statement, then all doubt will be removed...DeLay wears the White House pants.

The GOP has become so "wimp-whipped" by psychopathic bully Tom DeLay they sneak around like quivering jellyfish rather than confront him when necessary - like letting him know his cruise ship plan for the RNC Convention sucked: "Mr. DeLay, known in Congress as the Hammer, is a powerful figure among Republicans and no one seemed willing to come out and tell him to drop the plan. In the end, convention organizers, and local Republicans, got the message to Mr. DeLay through back channels." (NY Times) What classic bullies - tough when picking on the elderly, kids, and trapped servicemen, but total wimpos when confronted by a single out of control thug.

Cheryl Seal reports: "Tom Delay enrages me because I believe America deserves better - so, so, so much better. There is not one of us who would want our child to be in a school presided over by a cruel despot who shames, intimidates, threatens, lies, cheats and steals. Yet we allow our entire government to be presided over by just such a person. Worse, he continues to enjoy the protection of all those who are in a position to do the right thing and rid America of this cancer. Want a taste of the sort of people the corporate media now routinely protects? Check out this ongoing history of Tom Delay's criminal activity. After reading it, you'll ask yourself: "WHY IS THIS MAN STILL IN OFFICE?" Followed by: "WHY IS THIS MAN NOT IN PRISON?"

We would be so much more impressed by the "hard-hitting" journalism that the New York Times (and also phony investigative reporter Lisa Myers) are pretending to display re: Tom DeLay if they had gotten onto the story a little earlier. Like three years earlier! Tom DeLay has been running the boiler room fund-raising scam, first on doctors, then teacher, now children's charities, for years -- and Democrats.com has been running stories on it by REAL journalists for over two years. So what's the deal? The mainstream media figured doctors and teachers are fair game but decided to draw the line with kids?

"Two years [ago, Rep. Tom] DeLay and his political aide Jim Ellis devised the scheme that delivered the House to the Republican Party. It involved the novel use of federal PAC money to influence statehouse races. The money DeLay brought home to Texas - $1.5 million - delivered the House to the Republicans. DeLay's fund-raising... was coordinated by Jim Colyrando, a former colleague of Karl Rove. Colyrando did more than write checks on the account of DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority PAC. Colyrando and his staff carefully selected Republican candidates, provided each one of them a cut of the $1.5 million... In a word, a campaign was provided for each Republican candidate funded by DeLay's Texas PAC. The results were stunning. Not only did DeLay's PAC elect 17 Republicans to the Texas House; by systematically marking for elimination moderate Republicans, as the Texas Observer reported, it provided the right-wing majority needed to make Tom Craddick speaker. "

Tom Delay is coming unglued - there's no doubt about it. Now that the Democrats are pushing back against his abusive bullying, both in Washington and in Texas, he just can't take it! His Boss Hoggish illusions of power are crumbling and he now appears to be in the throes of one long and continuous tantrum, played out in vicious press releases to US Newswire and postings at his House web site. The tantrum was ramped up a notch this week with the successful blocking of Miguel Estrada's Supreme Court nomination.

If you go to US Newswire, you may wonder if it has been bought by Tom Delay. His name is regularly in the top-of-the-page "crawl," and as you scroll down through the releases, every other release seems to be a Delay "production." In fact, Delay IS buying his name in the news. It costs $400-600 a pop to place a press release in US Newswire online - probably more for the "crawl space." Here are some examples from just one day (8/26) :Delay blames Democrats for Bush's out of control spending! (http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=137-08262003), Delay says Israel and US are good guys in fight against "evil," which must be "completely destroyed."http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=136-08262003 Delay uses NASA report to try to steal limelight for himself http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=134-08262003 So wonder WHO is paying for these - they originate from his office, so it's not coming from his own checking account!

DeLay's office has insisted that there was no quid pro quo between Westar's donations and the exemption Westar wanted from the energy bill. It might be possible to believe DeLay's denials if this weren't part of a pattern of behavior. But consider his history. Apr. 3, 2001, the AP reported that DeLay was making recorded calls to small business owners, promising meetings with top Bush officials in exchange for a $20,000 contribution to join his Business Advisory Council. It is against the law for elected officials to promise favors for political donations. There's more in this Tom Paine article.

"The ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee asked the attorney general Friday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate campaign donations to Republicans by a utility seeking a legislative exemption that could have saved the company billions of dollars. In a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft, Rep. John Conyers of Michigan said only a special counsel from outside the Justice Department, 'with no ties to the Republican Party or the Bush administration,' can ensure a fair and impartial investigation. Internal Westar Energy documents raised the question whether there was an exchange of campaign contributions for legislative favors to help Westar, a Topeka, Kan., energy conglomerate."

"Rep. DeLay's office has insisted that there was no quid pro quo between Westar's donations and the exemption. 'When people contribute to Delay or causes he supports, they are supporting his agenda, we are not supporting theirs,' a spokesman insists... 'We have no control over any fantasies they might have about what they might get for a campaign contribution.' Hmmm. Let's see. America's businessmen are the smartest in the world, DeLay no doubt believes, but they're dupes when it comes to investing $56,500 of their hard-earned dollars on some leading Congressmen? ... 'We're just following the old adage of punish your enemies and reward your friends,' DeLay says. He once told Congress Daily, 'Money is not the root of all evil in politics. In fact, money is the lifeblood of politics.' Clearly, money is Tom DeLay's lifeblood. Maybe, if the Justice Department can be moved to investigate this latest Delay scandal, it could be his downfall as well."

Paul Krugman writes, "Last year I tried to illustrate just how far to the right America's ruling party has moved by quoting some of Representative Tom DeLay's past remarks. I got some puzzling responses. 'Who cares what some crazy guy in Congress says?' wrote one liberal economist, chiding me for being alarmist. Some crazy guy? Public images are funny things. Newt Gingrich became a famous symbol of Republican radicalism. By contrast, most people know little about Mr. DeLay, the House majority leader. Yet Mr. DeLay is more radical - and more powerful - than Mr. Gingrich ever was. Maybe Mr. DeLay's public profile will be raised by his success yesterday in sabotaging tax credits for 12 million children... Many of those who minimize the threat the radical right now poses to America as we know it would hate to live in the country Mr. DeLay wants to create. Yet by playing down the seriousness of the challenge, they help bring his vision closer to reality."

Rep. Rob Simmons & 15 other GOP congressmen received campaign contributions from Westar Energy company executives in the 2002 election - contributions allegedly made in exchange for preferential treatment. Public Citizen, in an 8 page memo citing Westar documents, said Westar made a deal with GOP leaders, providing $60,000 in campaign contributions to GOP candidates in exchange for "an exemption from an important investor protection" requirement. The exemption was included in a conference committee report on an energy bill in May, but later withdrawn. The documents claimed GOP congressional leaders Tom DeLay, Joe Barton & Billy Tauzin asked for contributions to 3 GOP incumbents in exchange for "providing Westar a seat at the table." A second memo later suggested a smaller, second round of contributions to 6 other GOP candidates, including Simmons. We demand a special prosecutor!

Terry McAuliffe asked the AG, John Ashcroft, on Friday to seize records of leading GOP lawmakers, Tom DeLay, Richard Shelby, Joe Barton & Billy Tauzin regarding Westar Energy's political donations seeking favorable treatment from Congress. The request followed news reports Thursday of Westar Energy's internal documents about campaign donations and the company's desire to get "a seat at the table" of a House-Senate conference committee on the Bush administration's energy plan. Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean also urged an investigation of the four members of Congress, saying that if DeLay and other lawmakers did agree to sell political access "they should be prosecuted for violating bribery laws."

The Houston Chronicle reports: "Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said today that a 'potentially criminal investigation' is under way into efforts to involve his agency in last week's search for Democrats who shut down the state House of Representatives. Ridge made the statement near the end of a hearing before the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, as Democrats repeated their request that he release tapes of conversations between the Texas Department of Public Safety, which was searching for the missing Democrats, and an agency of Ridge's department... Democrats claimed Wednesday that the Homeland Security's refusal to release its records about the hunt, and the DPS's destruction of some related records, constitute obstruction of justice. The DPS admitted Wednesday it destroyed records of its investigation into the walkout by the 55 Democrats."

Josh Marshall writes: "Generally speaking, when a political scandal has serious legs, every day brings more damning details, with the momentum and seriousness of the new revelations increasing day by day. You also find out that seemingly voluntary disclosures from subjects of scrutiny were prompted by the knowledge that the information was about to come out through other, often more awkward, means. That's precisely what's happening in the Tom DeLay/DPS/DHS story. I got word earlier today that Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta had started an internal review to see if anything untoward had happened when Tom DeLay contacted the FAA and received information about the whereabouts of former Texas House Speaker Pete Laney... DeLay clearly used his status as House Majority Leader to get the information directly from the FAA and presumably to do so more expeditiously than members of the public would be able to do. That's called abusing your office."

Cheryl Seal reports, "If you've been trying to track down the whole story of the case of the missing Texas Democrats, you've probably come up empty-handed or near-empty handed (short, scant versions). By failing to provide the public with all the facts, the American media is doing with this case exactly what it did with the case against Iraq: allowing falsehoods and misrepresentations to creep up and fill in the blanks. Thus we hear nothing about the Watergate scale abuse of power by the three Toms (Delay, Craddick and Ridge), but we hear rightwing-generated pundit spin aplenty about how the Democrats were 'cowards' who 'ran away from a fight.' In short, we don't get the meat and potatoes - we get moonshine. So here, collected into one place and framed, admittedly in my own 'pithy' (ahem!) style, is the whole story..."

"Texas police destroyed documents concerning their search for more than 50 runaway Democratic lawmakers who fled to Oklahoma last week to block a congressional redistricting plan, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported on Wednesday. A day before Democrats ended their boycott of the Republican-controlled Texas House last Friday, the Texas Department of Public Safety ordered the destruction of all records and photos gathered in the search..., the paper said, based on documents it received through a freedom of information request. Texas Democrats said they were checking to see if any laws were broken by the quick destruction of the public records... But the Texas Department of Public Safety, which after the Star Telegram story was published admitted destroying documents, said it was required by privacy protection measures to destroy the records and photos... Democrats in the U.S. Congress had alleged the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was inappropriately employed in the hunt."

"Using a branch of the Homeland Security Department in the search for a group of Texas lawmakers after their political flight from Austin might seem like a small thing. It almost might escape notice. That's why it's so dangerous... In this case, someone decided that it was necessary to find an aircraft belonging to Rep. Pete Laney... But in searching for it, DPS enlisted the aid of the Air and Marine Interdiction Coordination Center. That's when the alarm bells should have gone off. The center, a Homeland Security branch, put its resources to use... To meet the threat of global terrorism, the United States is assembling enormous federal resources focused on activities in American cities, neighborhoods and countrysides that could endanger those citizens. If we are to have this security apparatus, it must be contained to its designated purpose. There must be every safeguard so that it does not cross the thin line between protecting innocent citizens and spying on their private lives."

NY Times reports: "The chief internal investigator at the Department of Homeland Security has decided that his ties to the Republican Party in Texas prevent him from conducting an inquiry into how the department became entangled in a bitter partisan dispute in the Texas Statehouse, the department announced today. The withdrawal from the case by the department's acting inspector general, Clark Kent Ervin, was another awkward turn in the controversy for the department, which has been forced to explain why its resources were diverted last week to a politically inspired hunt for the private plane of a Democratic state lawmaker... In their letter to Mr. Ridge today, the House Democrats also requested that the department turn over any audiotapes or transcripts of telephone conversations involving department officials who were involved in the search for the plane... A department spokesman, Brian Roehrkasse, said the tapes would remain in the department's custody for now."

Josh Marshall writes: "And it seems quite clear that Tom DeLay had some role -- probably the leading role, but certainly some role -- in pushing for federal law enforcement officials to get involved in the manhunt. (In a run-down of the incident on CNN, Bill Schneider said 'that Texas authorities had followed up on DeLay's suggestion and asked the feds to help round up lawmakers on the lam.') For a slew of different reasons, that should be investigated -- not least of which is that the fact that this stunt raises real questions about the man's balance, sense of propriety and, frankly, respect for constitutional government. Who did he talk to at the Justice Department? DeLay's spokesman said DeLay spoke to someone at Justice. Who? What did he ask them? And what did they say? What role did he have in getting the leadership of the Texas state House to bring in the Feds in the first place?"

The Houston Chronicle reports: "Several hundred supporters gave a hero's welcome early today to more than 50 returning Democratic legislators, whose four-day flight to Oklahoma succeeded in killing a Republican-backed congressional redistricting bill. Now that the redistricting measure pushed by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is dead, the Democrats said they would concentrate on helping Republicans balance a state budget and crack down on high homeowners' insurance rates during the remaining 18 days of the legislative session. 'Government is by the people and for the people, and we had to go to Oklahoma to say government is not for Tom DeLay,' said Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, a leader of the insurgent group... The governor's political committee, however, joined an e-mail effort Thursday urging Republicans to pack the House gallery -- and wear red -- for the dissidents' return today." It's appropriate that Stalinist GOP Busheviks wear Red.

"Runaway Democrats boarded two buses and returned home to Texas... after their self-imposed weeklong exile in Oklahoma that succeeded in killing a redistricting bill they opposed. The 51 Texas Democrats departed late Thursday from the Holiday Inn in Ardmore, Okla., ...just before the redistricting bill died in Austin. A midnight deadline passed with no vote due to a lack of House quorum caused by the absent lawmakers... They say departing was the only way to stop a plan to redraw the state's districts to create more Republican seats... Important issues such as homeowners insurance reform and passing revenue-generating bills to help a $9.9 billion budget shortfall can still be addressed through Senate legislation, amendments and other tools not affected by Thursday's deadline, Democrats say... Meanwhile, the federal Department of Homeland Security said it had been drawn into the four-day standoff when a Texas law officer indicated that a plane carrying Democrats might have crashed."

"Wives have been watched. A former House speaker's plane was tracked. Federal officials have been asked to intervene... The hunt for Democrats on the lam from the Texas Legislature has involved virtually every level of government, ranging from a house call by local cops to monitoring conducted -- apparently unwittingly [?] -- by a California-based agency that normally is involved in the fight against terrorism and weapons of mass destruction... State Rep. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, said he believes that the dragnet went overboard when a Texas Ranger tried to find him Monday night at the neonatal unit of the Galveston hospital where his newborn twins are recovering -- in intensive care... 'It's unnecessary, bordering on harassment,' Eiland said... One federal agency that became involved early on was the Air and Marine Interdiction and Coordination Center, based in Riverside, Calif. -- which now falls under the auspices of the Homeland Security Department."

Andrew Nelson writes for Salon.com: "As former Houston bug man Tom DeLay and the Texas Republicans use nasty tricks to consolidate their power, the Democrats are fighting fire with fire."

"'Everybody's mind is really drained,' said Rep. Joe Pickett of El Paso. He's a Democrat, of course, like the other 50 state representatives holed up here in an effort to kill -- by denying the House a quo-rum -- a redistricting plan favorable to Republicans... By slipping out of state, they are out of reach of House Speaker Tom Craddick's authority to order their arrest and return to Austin by state Department... While the Texas troopers were here, Ardmore police officers were sent to the motel 'to be sure there were no problems'... Pickett said the Texans have been in contact with the offices of the Oklahoma governor and the attorney general, and both have been 'supportive.' In fact, Oklahoma's Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed a resolution Tuesday commending the Texas lawmakers who fled to Ardmore. A Republican-supported resolution that would have encouraged Oklahoma officials to assist Texas officials in returning the errant lawmakers to Texas failed."

"We are proud that the Texas House has a bipartisan tradition independent from the partisan rancor of Washington politics... However, the relentless effort by Washington Republican political leaders to split Texas communities and force an outrageous partisan congressional redistricting plan through the Legislature is dividing us by party, by race, by ethnicity, and by region. As long as congressional redistricting remains a misplaced priority on the House agenda, we cannot trust that the rights of our constituents will be respected and protected... It is entirely inaccurate to state, suggest or otherwise infer that our actions will be fatal to any pending legislation. Deadlines are set by House rules, and recent actions show clearly that such rules can be suspended when appropriate... As you know, we are at the Holiday Inn in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Please stop having our loved ones in Texas followed and staked out by law enforcement."

Ken Herman writes: "Texas Democratic House members, more powerful in absence than when they are in the chamber, are hiding out to block a vote on a congressional redistricting plan pushed by Republicans. House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, ordered the Department of Public Safety to hunt down the missing members when it became clear the House didn't have the 100 members needed for a quorum. The missing includes 53 who submitted letters announcing they would not be showing up. The Democrats-in-absentia issued a statement defending their move. 'We did not choose our path, Tom DeLay did,' they said, blaming the U.S. House majority leader who has played a first-hand role in redrawing the congressional boundaries. 'We are ready to stand on the House floor and work day and night to deal with real issues facing Texas families.' The redistricting bill, according to the Democrats, is 'an outrageous partisan power grab.'"

AP reports: "Texas lawmakers are joining their Washington counterparts in demanding an apology from House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land. DeLay is under fire for comments he made about minorities during a redistricting news conference in Texas. DeLay said in Austin on Thursday that he has a proposal to redraw Texas' congressional districts to increase minority and Republican representation. DeLay said he would not make the plan public and many state black and Hispanic lawmakers criticized his effort. In response, DeLay said -- quote -- 'If they do turn it down, then they're more Democrat than they are minority. And they are representing the Democrat Party and not their people.'"

"Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) has rankled even some GOP colleagues with a fiery diatribe seeking money for the National Right to Work Foundation's legal defense fund. His letter accuses 'Big Labor Bosses' of using the nation's security worries 'to grab more power,' a move that 'presents a clear and present danger to the security of the US at home and the safety of our Armed Forces overseas.' Examples are 'as numerous as they are sickening,' he wrote, criticizing the president of the International Association of Fire Fighters union by name... Harold Schaitberger, who heads the firefighters' union, called the letter 'probably the most despicable display of demagoguery I've seen in years.' He said he would demand that DeLay and Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) state whether the letter represents the House GOP Conference's position. Schaitberger said 343 of his union's members 'gave their lives on 9/11. Ground Zero was almost an all-union operation. Tom DeLay wasn't there on the 12th. I was.'"

Teamsters President James P. Hoffa, in a scathing note to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, expressed outrage at a fund-raising letter bearing the Texas Republican's signature on behalf of an anti-union group, saying it threatened "our developing relationship." "This anti-union screed not only insults the 1.4 million members of this union, it offends me personally," Hoffa's letter said. The fund-raising mailer sent last month for the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation accused "big labor bosses" of exploiting the war on terrorism and the Iraq conflict to expand their power. Hey Jimmy - what kind of "relationship" do you expect to have with the champion of slave labor in Saipan, where companies put a "Made in America" label on slave-wage products?

Campaign for America's Future writes, "In his first substantive act as House majority leader, Mr. DeLay introduced new rules for the 108th Congress that were voted into law with the support of every Republican member. What were the rule changes the DeLay Republicans made? To open the House up to public scrutiny? To enforce term limits? To limit the access of lobbyists to the back rooms. Not exactly. The rules of Tom DeLay's House are clear: pay to feast. So the DeLay Republicans acted immediately to: Gut House ethics rules to enable lobbyists to cater fine meals for members' offices... End embarrassing votes to raise the national debt... Mandate voodoo economic analysis of budget bills so tax cuts appear cost-free... It only took 2 hours for Tom DeLay to put these deceptive rules on the books - with the support of every single Republican. Imagine what they'll do with 2 years to work. 'Welcome to DeLay's Special Interest Buffet: would you like some tax cuts with that?'"

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) is so fundamentalist that he urged Texans to boycott Baylor and Texas A&M Universities for teaching evolution. His coercive and fraudulent fundraising scam tactics are criminal, but he is protected by Republicans on the FEC. His hometown paper, the Houston Chronicle, endorsed DeLay's opponent, saying DeLay "is obsessed with winning partisan advantage and husbanding personal power. His machinations make him incapable of working with opponents for the common good." But now the NY Times is trying to "soften his tough-as-nails reputation and redefine his nickname, the Hammer." Share your outrage with letters@nytimes.com

"Senate Majority Whip Harry M. Reid called on President [sic] Bush yesterday to condemn Republicans close to the White House who are tracking the political activities of Democratic lobbyists in order to deny them lobbying jobs and access to key government officials. Bush 'wanted to change the tone in Washington, but today we learn he's working in tandem with those keeping secret lists of people's personal activity,' Reid (D-Nev.) said...White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush has no plan to condemn the project because 'he's not part of it.' He said administration officials will not make decisions based on the records being compiled...An early draft of the report is in the hands of a few administration officials, GOP lawmakers and staffers, sources familiar with the project said. Once completed, the dossier is to be distributed among influential Republicans in the White House and on Capitol Hill, they said."

Writes Stephen Pizzo in the fourth part of a series on Tom DeLay: "The U.S. protectorate of the Northern Mariana Islands -- have become something of a free-enterprise petting zoo for DeLay and those he wishes to convert to his way of thinking... For Asian sweatshop operators, the Marianas became the Promised Land incarnate... No rules, no regulators, no inspectors, no health and safety laws. What more could a sweatshop operator ask for? ... Although far from Texas, the Marianas provided DeLay with yet another opportunity to help Enron. When the Marianas [called for bids for a new power plant, Enron complained to DeLay, who] demanded that the power plant bidding be re-opened and... Enron was declared the winner. Apparently, free-market mechanisms like open bidding are only good when they favor the right player. Islanders say the bidding was rigged in Enron's favor." Tom DeLay is the most corrupt Republican in Congress - that's why the right wing loves him so much.

In part three of his Tom DeLay expose, Stephen Pizzo writes in AlterNet that "supporting any form of legalized gambling was not without its risks for DeLay. After all, his public persona was that of a devoted evangelical Christian who supports all that is wholesome and opposes all that is evil. His church-going constituents back in Texas believed that gambling was destructive to families and communities. But thanks largely to Abramoff, the amount of money flowing to DeLay and his PAC from tribes with gambling operations swamped any potential contributions from the Christian right. The risks involved in backing gambling interests came home to roost for DeLay's friend [and finiancial god father, Jack Abramoff], when he and Tom DeLay's former aide, Mike Scanlon, suddenly found themselves smack in the middle of an alleged mob assassination in Miami, Florida."

"When DeLay and other pro-deregulation members of Congress were able to pass measures that weakened regulatory oversight for corporate constituents federal judges often thwarted their efforts. [The] Judiciary branch's independence from the Legislative branch quickly became another front in Tom DeLay's deregulatory jihad... DeLay rejected the idea that the Constitution limits impeachment of federal judges to 'high crimes and misdemeanors,' the same standard required to impeach a President. Instead, DeLay argued, whenever a judge ruled in ways that 'usurped the powers of Congress,' he or she should face impeachment. What DeLay was suggesting was a coup d'état by members of Legislative Branch against members of the [Judiciary] Branch. It was precisely the kind of politically motivated intimidation of the judiciary that America's Founding Fathers wished to avoid by putting the judiciary safely outside the political arena." So writes Stephen Pizzo in Tom DeLay's Axis of Influence, Part Two.

In the first of a 5 part series, Stephen Pizzo writes in AlterNet, "By the time Enron collapsed, its tentacles had penetrated deep into our federal government... Tom DeLay's deep and personal involvement with Enron was not an exception but part of a pattern of controversial relationships that reach back to DeLay's earliest days in Congress. All of these relationships were consistent with a far-right, free-market, anti-regulatory philosophy that DeLay has raised to nearly religious status and upon which he has created a lucrative and ruthless power base. Among other discoveries, we found a startling contrast between the wholesome, born-again, pro-family image DeLay portrays to voters back home in Sugarland, Texas, and the controversial causes and companies he backs in Washington... Tom DeLay has become the Teflon Don of the radical-right of his party."

Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) is the most powerful Republican in Congress, and his district is in suburban Houston. So it's quite a shock to read his hometown Republican paper, the Houston Chronicle, calling him a religious nut: "Rep. Tom DeLay is entitled by law to his views. However, his advice to parents not to send their children to Baylor or Texas A&M University is conclusive evidence that the House majority whip's views are unfounded and lie far outside the mainstream of conservative thought in America... DeLay disparaged Baylor apparently because professors of that well-regarded Baptist liberal arts school do not reject evolution and embrace creationism to his satisfaction... Before spouting off again, DeLay, who was kicked out of Baylor in 1967, should accept the school's invitation to visit, so he might acquaint himself with reality." Wow!

"Speaking to about 300 people at the First Baptist Church of Pearland, Tex., on April 12, [the corrupt House Republican Whip and former exterminator Tom] DeLay said that God is using him to promote 'a biblical worldview' in American politics, and that he pursued Bill Clinton's impeachment in part because the Democratic president held 'the wrong worldview.' 'Ladies and gentlemen, Christianity offers the only viable, reasonable, definitive answer to the questions of 'Where did I come from?' 'Why am I here?' 'Where am I going?' 'Does life have any meaningful purpose?' ' DeLay said. 'Only Christianity offers a way to understand that physical and moral border. Only Christianity offers a comprehensive worldview that covers all areas of life and thought, every aspect of creation. Only Christianity offers a way to live in response to the realities that we find in this world -- only Christianity.'"

BuzzFlash writes, "Of all the Republican Chicken Hawks, Tom DeLay takes the cake. But make that a fruitcake, please. The man who avoided service in Vietnam to open an exterminator business (we're not making this up) regularly gets up on his high horse alleging that liberal Democrats lost the Vietnam War. Now... DeLay has gone even further, defaming Senator John Kerry, who actually fought heroically in Vietnam, and by claiming Bush would have won the war if he were president then... The man who believes Dioxin is good for you (again, we are not making this up), claims that he volunteered for Vietnam, but all the spots were taken up by minorities, so he was not allowed to serve... Tom DeLay should be roundly - and repeatedly - denounced for the coward he was. He joins a long list of prominent Republicans who love to paint the Democratic Party leaders as unpatriotic and as the cause of the U.S. "losing" the Vietnam war, but who didn't have the guts to fight for their country. "

Roll Call has scored a MAJOR investigative coup that could bring down Tom DeLay's top aide. "At the top of the DeLay political hierarchy sits Edwin Alexander Buckham, a 43-year-old ordained evangelical minister with a dense political and legislative resume who rose to become DeLay's chief of staff after Republicans won the majority in 1994... Buckham left DeLay's staff Dec. 20, 1997, but was immediately hired as a consultant for the lawmaker's leadership PAC, Americans for a Republican Majority." BEFORE he left - on 11-12-97 - Buckham was working on a lobbying proposal to Enron that led to a $750,000 contract to promote electricity "deregulation," Enron-style - after DeLay pushed Enron to hire his aide. Buckham says he had nothing to do with the proposal, and that his letterhead was forged. Hey Rev. Ed - put your hand on a Bible and tell that lie to a jury. We demand a CRIMINAL investigation!

We always knew Tom DeLay was a greedy hypocrite who tries to hide behind the Bible. But now, as the leader of a lynch mob aimed at doing in the environment at the expense of Big Oil, he is proving that he is truly malevolent. At staged "town meetings" (invitation only - and those only to freepers), Delay has been in his Neanderthal glory. Bellowing "We ought to go and find and produce oil and gas wherever we can find it in America!" and that the natural jewel ANWR is "the largest desert in the world," DeLay was cheered on by the fascist mob of freepers.

He's lied under oath, admitted to a pathological hatred of Clinton, tries to destroy any who oppose him, has cheated business associates of thousands at least twice, has callously cut off all contact with his mother (who watches C-SPAN every day just to catch a glimpse of her son), wants to force a fundamentalist Christian model on American society, and has an approach to politics that one of his top staffers summed up in a memo: "This whole thing about not kicking someone when they are down is BS - Not only do you kick him - you kick him until he passes out - then beat him over the head with a baseball bat - then roll him up in an old rug - and throw him off a cliff into the pounding surf below!" But Tom Delay goes to church regularly, so that makes it all OK.

Tom DeLay will rant and rave about alleged Democratic financial improprieties, but the guy is using anonymous donations to run a below-the- radar operation in support of a GOP candidate in Michigan's 8th District. According to the Washington Post, "The Republican Majority Issues Committee, an independent group associated with House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), has been working for months to mobilize conservatives over such issues as abortion, guns and gambling. Funded by anonymous donors and working outside the GOP establishment, the committee is conducting polls, scrutinizing hunting license registrations and other lists to identify potential supporters, running telephone banks and bombarding the district with direct-mail solicitations."