Ummm.... yeah, what she said.

We've arrived. I think.

(Update: What he said, it should read. My apologies, Mr. Beato.)

Texas Observer exposes more evidence of the law-breakin' TRMPAC

Thanks to the folks at DriveDemocracy.org, here's a story to pass along:

The Texas Observer runs a piece today that gives us all more to chew on about DeLay's state political action committee, TRMPAC. They're reporting that more of the subpeonaed documents from the civil trial against TRMPAC officials show clear intent to use corporate donations for political purposes. Here's how the story begins:

"Unlike other organizations, your corporate contributions to TRMPAC will be put to productive use,” reads the document subpoenaed from Texans for a Republican Majority Executive Director John Colyandro. It’s one of hundreds of exhibits offered into evidence for a recent civil trial—and presumedly, presented to the Travis County grand jury for its ongoing criminal investigation as well. The political brochure—paid for with corporate money—was aimed at donors to the Tom DeLay-founded PAC, and titled “TRMPAC GOALS.”

What, you may ask, made TRMPAC so “productive” that it could accomplish what “other” political organizations had been unable to do in a century of political campaigning?

It continues: “Rather than just paying for overhead, your support will fund a series of productive and innovative activities designed to increase our level of engagement in the political arena.” (emphasis mine)

That's illegal. Productive and innovative, certainly. So innovative no one had ever done it (or perhaps, done it and got caught) before, because it's, repeat after me, ILLEGAL.

And the connection to DeLay? He was involved in raising the corporate money from some of the energy companies for TRMPAC, transactions that got him into hot water with the Ethics Committee in the House. Consider this passage describing "former DeLay legislative director turned lobbyist" Drew Maloney's fundraising.

[Drew] Maloney also relates in his e-mails that he will be delivering “2 checks from Reliant” to “TD” (Tom DeLay). The circumstances under which DeLay sealed the Reliant deal earned him a rebuke from the U.S. House ethics committee in 2004. In early June 2002, DeLay held a two-day golf tournament at the Homestead resort in Hot Springs, Virginia. The cost of attending the event was a corporate contribution of $25,000 to $50,000. Five energy companies were invited by Maloney to attend: El Paso Corp., Mirant, Reliant Energy, Westar Energy, and Williams Companies. (DeLay’s dealings with Westar would earn a separate rebuke from the committee.) The golfing took place just before a House-Senate conference on an omnibus energy bill. (It’s understandable why, four months later, Maloney would complain about Reliant’s tardiness.) The Homestead event was supposed to benefit equally TRMPAC and DeLay’s Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC), according to an e-mail from an ARMPAC staffer to TRMPAC’s accountant.

Incriminating.

News round up on ads

Lots of news coverage on our TV spots and CAF's spots. Post items I missed in the comments.

Key national stories: Washington Post (mentions petition, too!), USA Today (discusses on-line fundraising -- give here!), Knight-Ridder (all over the place)

TV Coverage: FOX News (DeLay: "Bring it on."), CBS News

Wire services: Associated Press, Reuters

Connecticut: Norwich Bulletin, The Day (New London)

Texas: Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Other national coverage: Washington Times (conservatives rally in response), Bloomberg, National Public Radio, St. Petersburg Times

Update: Nick Penniman of TomPaine.com has a great op-ed, too.

Tom DeLay: "Bring it on"

In response to our ads and ads by Campaign for America's Future criticizing DeLay for his corruption and unethical tenure in Congress (which we think should end, now), Tom DeLay had three words for us all:

"Bring it on."

No joking. Can't imagine Republican colleagues around the country are happy about that.

So, folks, here's how to bring it on:

1. Help us run our ads in targeted Republican districts calling on members of Congress to demand DeLay's resignation

2. Write letters to the editor of your daily newspapers to build a cacophony of voices calling on DeLay to rsign.

3. Sign our petition and post the picture to the right on your blog or website, if you have one.

4. Suggest other ideas in the comments. Consider this an open-source brainstorm.

Hot off the presses

The stories are rolling in from this morning's press conference announcing Public Campaign Action Fund's launch of ads criticizing Tom DeLay.

The Associated Press explains how Public Campaign Action Fund chose Republican targets:

The Public Campaign Action Fund, a group that runs an anti-DeLay blog, bought $25,000 worth of air time for separate ads in the districts of House Ethics Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash.; Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-NY; and Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn.

David Donnelly, political director of the fund, said DeLay held a fund-raiser for Simmons. Reynolds sits on the House Administration Committee, which oversees campaign finance, and Hastings oversees the panel that is considering corruption allegations against DeLay. The fund´s ad exhorts the congressmen to "clean up Congress _ without DeLay."

Bloomberg reports that Public Campaign Action Fund's petition drive asking Tom DeLay to resign his seat in Congress has collected 20,000 signatures in the last two weeks. Knight Ridder quotes The Daily DeLay's David Donnelly saying that DeLay is "a walking scandal....It's time for him to go." National Journal's Congress Daily points out that the Public Campaign Action Fund's ads are part of a "first wave" of ads. Stay tuned for more...

Fineman puts his handwriting on the wall

A piece from Howard Fineman of Newsweek and MSNBC captures the growing sentiment in Washington these days:

A new drama of survival has begun here – political, not physical; legal, not spiritual. The central character isn’t a woman in a hospital bed but a controversial Republican leader in the House of Representatives. Rep. Tom DeLay may not want to admit it to himself, but he’s fighting for his political life.

I wouldn’t have said so two weeks ago. But I’ve seen enough of these dramas unfold to know when I’m watching a new one, and now I am. You know the story line, which dates back to the Greeks: a powerful, hubristic leader is brought low by his own flaws. Think Jim Wright, Newt Gingrich, Bill Clinton.

[...]

This is a city dedicated to ambition, but also to the occasional ritual (and largely ineffective) cleansing. The goal of the truly power-hungry is to find new routes to the top without antagonizing a critical mass of the trampled and the angry.

There's more, but that sums it up pretty well.

Rep. Simmons and disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff

File under hmmmmmm...

This cut-and-paste from Federal Election Commission records from Daily DeLay reader BK:

ABRAMOFF, JACK
WASHINGTON,DC 20006
ELECTRIC BOAT/DESIGNER
4/30/2001
$250
Simmons, Rob


Now, Jack Abramoff was a lot of things to a lot of people, I understand. But in all the time I've been looking into DeLay-related matters, I've never heard him referred to as a Designer for Electric Boat.

Maybe a clerical error? Maybe too ashamed to admit taking even $250 from Abramoff?

Ad Campaign Launched

The "virtual" room was packed at this morning's telephone press conference announcing Public Campaign Action Fund's and Campaign for America's Future's ad launch criticizing Tom DeLay. More than 30 reporters were on the call, representing mainstream outlets such as CNN, NBC, Fox News, the Associated Press, Reuters, and the National Journal. Stay tuned for coverage. Meanwhile, here is the statement made by David Donnelly, Public Campaign Action Fund's political director:

Today Public Campaign Action Fund is unveiling the first wave of advertising to demand that Republicans in Congress clean up their own mess and by calling for Tom Delay’s resignation.

The ads will run in the districts of Republican National Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds of New York; Ethics Chairman Doc Hastings of Washington State; and Representative Rob Simmons of Connecticut.

Mr. DeLay is unfit to serve in, let alone lead, Congress.

He’s accepted trips paid for by a disgraced lobbyist and a registered foreign agent.

He’s helped raised corporate money for a committee in Texas that under criminal investigation.

He embodies the worst of pay-to-play politics, and has displayed a pattern of abuse of power behavior. Tom DeLay, frankly, is a politician-for-hire. He’s got to go.

We know that Mr. DeLay will not resign because some Democrats in Washington think he should.

That’s why we’re taking this issue straight to the people, and straight to the districts of Republican members of Congress who will have to make a very conscious choice: Stand with Mr. DeLay’s corruption and stench of the money-rot in Washington. Or do the job they were elected to do on behalf of voters back home.

So, today we start with Representatives Tom Reynolds, Doc Hastings, and Rob Simmons.

Rep. Simmons, in particular has to make a smart choice. Back home in Connecticut, voters still remember the backbone he displayed when, early on, he called on disgraced former Governor John Rowland to step down. Today, Simmons’s campaign account is flush with cold cash from a $1.5 million fundraiser that Tom DeLay hosted for him and nine other members of Congress. Simmons should reflect on the lessons of the Rowland scandals, then refuse the money and call for DeLay’s resignation.

Other members of Congress should reflect on this as well. The next list of potential targets can be found by looking at who is receiving Tom DeLay’s fundraising help.

That $1.5 million is hush money to keep members of Congress silent on Tom DeLay. Which one of them would want to appear in their districts with him today?

Today’s news is about today’s ads. Tomorrow’s news is about how Tom DeLay and Republican members of Congress respond.

Public Campaign Action Fund is putting Republican members of Congress on notice that democracy belongs to the people, and we won’t stand on the sidelines as Tom DeLay hijacks it for his personal, political gain. Neither should members of Congress.

Ads targeting three GOP members for defending DeLay unveiled

Public Campaign Action Fund is unveiling three TV ads today in a campaign to take Tom DeLay's scandals directly to members of Congress. Tom DeLay is a walking scandal, and Republicans should answer for why they continue to let him be their leader. He should resign immediately.

The districts include Reps. Rob Simmons (CT-02), Tom Reynolds (NY-26), and Doc Hastings (WA-04). Reynolds is the chair of the Republican National Congressional Committee. Hastings is the new chair of the Ethics Committee.

Go watch the ads and help with a donation. We will be spreading these kinds of ads to new districts, and organizing the netroots and grassroots in these districts, too.

NYT previews our ad campaign

We're doing a press conference on the phone with reporters from all over the country about this tomorrow, so stay tuned for more details, but I wanted to share a Glen Justice-reported New York Times piece on DeLay, our TV ads and the ads being run by Campaign for America's Future.

We'll have a link to our ads up tomorrow. Here's a snippet from the piece:

The Public Campaign Action Fund is spending $25,000 to pressure Republican lawmakers to denounce Mr. DeLay. Those targeted include Representative Doc Hastings of Washington, the chairman of the Ethics Committee, and Representative Thomas M. Reynolds of New York, who heads fund-raising for House Republicans.

The ad involving Mr. Hastings exhorts him to "do your job and clean up Congress without delay." (Ed note: Actually, Glen, it's "without DeLay.")

Ellen Miller, deputy director at the Campaign for America's Future, said the group was focused on ethical issues throughout Congress.

"As with fish, rot starts at the head," Ms. Miller said. "The litany of complaints concerning ethical lapses by Tom DeLay have reached a point where somebody has to stand up and say 'wait a minute.' "

Yes, that's a money quote.

The other target of our ads, by the way, is Connecticut Representative Rob Simmons.

Like I said, more, much more, tomorrow.

UPDATE: Knight Ridder piece by Maria Recio and DeLay's allies fighting back -- Daily DeLay in both.

Newsday Weighs in on House Ethics Committee Imbroglio

Today Newsday editorializes on the weakness of the House Ethics Committee:

"In a deplorable attempt to keep House ethics watchdogs off the case of Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), their ethically-challenged majority leader, Republicans have unceremoniously dumped committee members judged insufficiently loyal and changed the rules of engagement. In the process, any honest attempt at ethics enforcement has been abandoned. ...

...[I]n January, they changed committee rules, making ethics enforcement completely partisan and complaints all but impossible to sustain. The key change empowers any one party, acting alone, to block an official investigation. The panel, formally known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, is composed of five Republicans and five Democrats. Before January, if a 5-to-5 standoff on a valid complaint lasted for 45 days, a formal subcommittee investigation was automatically initiated. Now a 5-to-5 stalemate results in a complaint being automatically dismissed.

The Orwellian result? The ethics committee has become the place where valid ethics complaints go to die."

Newsday doesn't stop there. Democrats on the committee, says the paper, are protesting by preventing the committee from organizing officially for the session until the House acts on a resolution fixing the rules. Republicans ought to join them, because:

"If it turns out that Tom "The Hammer" DeLay deserves it, then the committee should be free to hammer him."

WSJ Speaks, Hometown Paper Listens

When the Wall Street Journal speaks, the Houston Chronicle listens. In a news piece today, reporters Michael Hedges and Samantha Levine note that the critical WSJ editorial "took dead aim at [DeLay's] ethical conduct." They also point to stories that DeLay and his family decided to end life support for his father as potentially damaging, since it makes him look opportunistic in grabbing onto the Terri Schiavo case. After giving DeLay's spokesman lots of time to deny that any of this means anything, they save the best quote for the last:

"If you've seen a chicken in the barnyard get a peck on his head so a little blood is showing, then the other chickens all rush in and peck him to death, that is the danger for Tom DeLay right now," said Charlie Wilson, a former Democratic member of Congress from Lufkin. "He's got a little blood on his head, and sometimes that is enough to get you killed."

Allentown (PA) Morning Call calls for DeLay to step down

The very last line ofthis morning's editorial in the Allentown (PA) Morning Call:

...the unrepentant, arrogant majority leader should step down.

Blog Call tomorrow

I'll be on the fifth edition of Blog Call at 1:00 p.m. EST Tuesday. If you're a blogger or a journalist or both, go to the link and follow the instructions about getting on the call.

More reflection on WSJ editorial

Clean up Congress... Without DeLay!

The Wall Street Journal editorial below stops a hair's breadth short of calling on DeLay to step down.

I've spent a little time perusing around the blogosphere today, particularly looking at what some more conservative writers and bloggers are saying. Red State and Michelle Malkin (scroll down) are distancing themselves. That's the impact of a WSJ editorial, I guess.

But what has got me most intrigued is this: The WSJ, as a Monday to Friday publication, had to assess as early as Friday last week whether to give over it's prime newspaper real estate to taking on DeLay and his ethics. Sure, final touches were added on Sunday, but they stayed completely away from the Schiavo case and any mention of the end of life decision regarding his father. It was all about the scandals, and there was nothing new on that this weekend.

It's no secret the WSJ edit board is tight with the market-driven, establishment Republicans in Washington. I can't see any way they would have written this without notifying DeLay or his staff, and other leading GOP bigwigs. The next few days are critical for DeLay. Will the wagons circle, or will there be more defections of this magnitude? What member of Congress will ask DeLay, privately or publicly, to step down?

Drum beat got VERY LOUD: Wall Street Journal weighs in

Update: We're running ads on DeLay in key districts.

Everyone has sent this to me today... so I thought I'd share it. I have excerpted a lot of it, instead of putting it all out there. (Don't want to run afoul of copyright laws. :-| ) The WSJ doesn't provide free access.

Smells Like Beltway
March 28, 2005; Page A16

By now you have surely read about House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's ethics troubles. Probably, too, you aren't entirely clear as to what those troubles are -- something to do with questionable junkets, Indian casino money, funny business on the House Ethics Committee, stuff down in Texas. In Beltway-speak, what this means is that Mr. DeLay has an "odor": nothing too incriminating, nothing actually criminal, just an unsavory whiff that could have GOP loyalists reaching for the political Glade if it gets any worse.

The Beltway wisdom is right. Mr. DeLay does have odor issues. Increasingly, he smells just like the Beltway itself.

Here is the abbreviated rap sheet against Mr. DeLay. First, we have the imbroglio with the House Ethics Committee, which last year rebuked him on three occasions. Among his sins: He offered to endorse outgoing Representative Nick Smith's son in a GOP primary if Mr. Smith would vote "yes" on the Medicare prescription-drug bill. (Mr. Smith declined the offer; his son lost the primary.) Mr. DeLay has since changed Committee rules so that it can no longer launch investigations on a party-line basis, and by packing the Committee with loyalists.

Next, there is the Texas business. Ronnie Earle, the district attorney for Travis County (which contains Austin), last year indicted three DeLay associates involved in his Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee for money laundering and illegal campaign contributions. Mr. Earle also will not rule out a possible indictment of Mr. DeLay himself.

Mr. Earle, a partisan Democrat, has a record of making suspect accusations: In 1993, he indicted newly elected Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison on evidence so weak the case was never brought to trial. The indictments of Mr. DeLay's associates came just six weeks before November's elections; Mr. Earle's primary aim, it seemed, was to derail Mr. DeLay's ultimately successful efforts to achieve the first Republican majority in the Texas delegation to the U.S. House since Reconstruction. Still, the "odor" stuck; last year Mr. DeLay had to fend off a stiff challenge from a complete unknown to keep what otherwise would have been his safe seat.

Finally, there are the junkets, three in particular. In December 1997, Mr. DeLay visited the Northern Marianas Islands in the company of lobbyist pal Jack Abramoff, now under investigation by the Senate Finance Committee, who just happened to be representing the garment industry there. Mr. DeLay later led a legislative effort to extend the Islands' exemption from U.S. immigration and labor laws.

[...]

In August 2001, Mr. DeLay and several House colleagues (including four Democrats) visited South Korea on a trip sponsored by the Korea-United States Exchange Council, which has close ties to former DeLay staff chief Ed Buckham and was registered as foreign agent just days before the trip. House rules forbid members from traveling at their expense, but it is unclear whether Mr. DeLay or his colleagues were aware of the Korean Exchange Council's status at the time of their departure.

Taken separately, and on present evidence, none of the latest charges directly touch Mr. DeLay; at worst, they paint a picture of a man who makes enemies by playing political hardball and loses admirers by resorting to politics-as-usual.

The problem, rather, is that Mr. DeLay, who rode to power in 1994 on a wave of revulsion at the everyday ways of big government, has become the living exemplar of some of its worst habits. Mr. DeLay's ties to Mr. Abramoff might be innocent, in a strictly legal sense, but it strains credulity to believe that Mr. DeLay found nothing strange with being included in Mr. Abramoff's lavish junkets.

[...]

Whether Mr. DeLay violated the small print of House Ethics or campaign-finance rules is thus largely beside the point. His real fault lies in betraying the broader set of principles that brought him into office, and which, if he continues as before, sooner or later will sweep him out.

Who am I to argue?

From Andy Borowitz:

IN RARE PUBLIC APPEARANCE, GOD BLASTS TOM DELAY

'Enough is enough,' Says Almighty

In a rare public appearance that leading theologians called “extraordinary,” God held a press conference in Washington on Sunday to disavow the recent words and deeds of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

The normally reclusive Ruler of the Universe took the unusual step of speaking to reporters to blast Rep. DeLay for repeatedly invoking His name in political fundraising appeals.

“I usually don’t like to shoot my mouth off about every little thing that bugs me,” the surprisingly outspoken Supreme Being said. “But enough is enough.”

After complaining about Rep. DeLay’s unauthorized use of His name in fundraising pitches, God warned the Texas congressman to discontinue the practice at once “or else.”

When asked if He intended to strike Rep. DeLay with a lightning bolt, God replied with a terse “no comment,” but later said, “I’ve been known to smite people in the past, and I’m not prepared to take smiting off the table.”

Hours after God’s press briefing concluded, a spokesperson for Rep. DeLay issued a one-sentence statement saying that the congressman and the Almighty remain on good terms and that he hoped to have God’s support in the 2006 midterm elections.

But Dr. Harland Minter of the University of Minnesota’s School of Divinity said that Rep. DeLay would be well advised to heed God’s words of warning: “It means a lot that God took the trouble to hold a press conference, especially on His day off.”

Elsewhere, a new poll shows that a majority of Americans favor disconnecting Pat O’Brien’s telephone.

Big money agenda is DeLay's agenda

With all the news focused on DeLay's use of the Terri Schiavo case as a distraction away from his scandals, it's important to get a reminder of the culture of Washington. And that's what you can find in today's Washington Post. Reporter Jim VandeHei profiles the gains business groups and interests seek from Congress, all greased with hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.

It's no different than DeLay's agenda, formed by big money contributions from Wall Street, big banks and credit card companies, and the oil and gas industry.

Read the story here.

How many members of Congress knew this before following him on Schiavo?

Los Angeles Times:

DeLay's Own Tragic Crossroads

by Walter F. Roche Jr. and Sam Howe Verhovek

CANYON LAKE, Texas — A family tragedy that unfolded in a Texas hospital during the fall of 1988 was a private ordeal — without judges, emergency sessions of Congress or the debate raging outside Terri Schiavo's Florida hospice.

The patient then was a 65-year-old drilling contractor, badly injured in a freak accident at his home. Among the family members keeping vigil at Brooke Army Medical Center was a grieving junior congressman — Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

More than 16 years ago, far from the political passions that have defined the Schiavo controversy, the DeLay family endured its own wrenching end-of-life crisis. The man in a coma, kept alive by intravenous lines and oxygen equipment, was DeLay's father, Charles Ray DeLay.

Then, freshly reelected to a third term in the House, the 41-year-old DeLay waited, all but helpless, for the verdict of doctors.

Today, as House Majority Leader, DeLay has teamed with his Senate counterpart, Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), to champion political intervention in the Schiavo case. They pushed emergency legislation through Congress to shift the legal case from Florida state courts to the federal judiciary.

And DeLay is among the strongest advocates of keeping the woman, who doctors say has been in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years, connected to her feeding tube. DeLay has denounced Schiavo's husband, as well as judges, for committing what he calls "an act of barbarism" in removing the tube.

In 1988, however, there was no such fiery rhetoric as the congressman quietly joined the sad family consensus to let his father die.

"There was no point to even really talking about it," Maxine DeLay, the congressman's 81-year-old widowed mother, recalled in an interview last week. "There was no way [Charles] wanted to live like that. Tom knew — we all knew — his father wouldn't have wanted to live that way."

[...]

More editorials, news, and Media Matters pokes holes in GOP report

Editorials (registration required for all):

Sacramento Bee: "Showing his meddle"
San Diego Union-Tribune: "Disgraceful DeLay" (thanks to reader Eugene)
Charleston (WV) Gazette: "DeLay, Still More Allegations"

News:

Washington Post: "Schiavo Case Tests Priorities for GOP"

Interesting excerpt:

One senior GOP lawmaker involved in the negotiations, who did not want to speak for the record, said that DeLay, who is fighting ethics charges on several fronts, faced considerable pressure from Christian conservative groups to respond to pleas by the parents of the brain-damaged woman to intervene before her husband, Michael Schiavo, removed the feeding tube that kept her alive. The lawmaker said that DeLay "wanted to follow through" but added that many House Republicans were dubious and suspected that the leader's ethics problems were a motivating factor.

Media Matters: "The Hill recycled GOP research, painted misleading picture..."

DeLay's Name I.D.: What's the big picture?

Today's New York Times carries a story by Carl Hulse and Adam Nagourney about Tom DeLay's emerging public profile with all the scandals and the Terri Schiavo case. It's chock full of quotes on this narrow question: Is Tom DeLay's national name identification numbers, increasingly negative, a liability to the Republican's agenda and to individual GOP candidates?

There has to be growing nervousness -- we've seen it for weeks -- among GOP insiders (and increasing excitement among Democratic insiders) that this question is even being asked. DeLay has prided himself in keeping a low public profile, in contrast to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Here are some of the quotes, in no particular order, from the Times:

"I am not sure it raised his name ID," said Carl M. Forti, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. "A month from now, people are not going to remember," he said, and 20 months from now, in the 2006 elections, "it will be irrelevant."

"The public is beginning to sense a whiff of extremism in the Republican leadership in the House and the Senate," said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "If it continues, it could prove very detrimental to them and good for us."

It is not just Democrats who share that view. In a regular e-mail commentary he distributes, former Senator Dave Durenberger, Republican of Minnesota, wrote, "If I were a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota in 2006, I would make DeLay the issue in the campaign right now."

But it is this one from independent, maverick, GOP Congressman Chris Shays of Connecticut that really got me thinking. Shays' response to the question of whether DeLay was a liability:

Representative Christopher Shays, a moderate Republican from Connecticut whom the Democrats tried to tie closely to the House leadership in last year's election campaign, said of the voters in his district, "They didn't know who he is, and they didn't really care."

Well, that may be changing. But I expected Shays to be a little less interested in the narrow issue of his own race. In fact, I think it's hard to make a charge stick to Shays that he's in DeLay's orbit with the many times Shays has crossed him, particularly recently.

The questions for Shays, other GOP members of Congress, and frankly, for all of us, are these:

Do we want our government run by a man who has put personal, partisan power above the interests of the people? Put the interests of donors ahead of voters? Abused power in such a brazen way? Is DeLay Inc. what government of the people, by the people, for the people looks like?

Strategically, I'm not going to dismiss the relevance of DeLay's name I.D. numbers rising, nor the growing negativity with which Americans view the Majority Leader. But I think Shays is wrong both in what he said, and for dumbing down what Americans care about. I expected more from a representative who has fought for reform. You would think he should believe that people cared about what Tom DeLay has done. Perhaps a charitable reading of this might be that Shays answered a reporter's question about last year and didn't think more broadly in response. Or that the broader answer didn't make the story. I hope so.

I will say this, though. I believe it will take a combination of GOP leaders (with the kind of gumption Shays has shown recently), and an outraged citizenry to remove DeLay from power. The time for narrow questions about name I.D. should soon give way to questions about what we expect of our elected officials.

Let me plant my flag here: I, for one, expect elected officials and the people they are supposed to represent to speak out against DeLay's pay-to-play politics, abuse of power, and disregard for the rules.

Anniston (AL) Star: GOP needs a new leader

Another paper urges its state's GOP delegation to get rid of DeLay.

From today's Anniston (AL) Star:

We’ll assume Reps. Jo Bonner, Terry Everett, Mike Rogers, Robert Aderholt and Spencer Bachus don’t believe in conspiracy theories that discern “a huge nationwide concerted effort to destroy everything we believe in.” We’ll go further and suggest that they aren’t that comfortable with a leader who traffics in such, particularly one with a slippery ethical track record.

How long then, will they continue to support a House majority leader who does?

Looks like that editorial board conference call yesterday by Common Cause's Chellie Pingree and Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton hit its mark.

(Thanks again to reader Brett)

Salt Lake Tribune calls on GOP to look for new leader

The Salt Lake Tribune editorial outlines all the reasons we're so familiar with, but ends with this:

If conservative Republicans really want to talk about important issues, and not about Tom DeLay, they might start looking for a different leader.

(From reader Brett. Thanks, folks, keep the articles and ideas coming.)

SF Chronicle column

Debra Saunders, a San Francisco Chronicle columnist "with a conservative edge" (according to their website), pens "DeLavish, DeLoutish, DeLayly." Tough times for the Hammer when the conservatives start turning on him...

(Thanks to Melanie Sloan at CREW for the tip.)

NYT Editorial: "Tom DeLay's Cri de Coeur"

In its entirety:

ere is some badly needed comic relief from Congress: The House ethics committee, now that it has been rendered impotent by the Republican leadership, is plumping for a 50 percent increase in financing to see to such vital needs as writing a new ethics manual to educate lawmakers. ("J is for Junket, so naughty and nice.")

The money would also pay for the hiring of an unusual new Capitol worker - specialists authorized to explain House rules to innocent representatives. Political grief counselors, let's call them. One of their first assignments should be succoring the majority leader, Tom DeLay, who issued a plaint before a gathering of power conservatives last week that lumped his own festering ethical troubles (attacks "against me") with all criticism of conservative causes, including the sorry attempt to exploit the troubles of Terri Schiavo ("a huge nationwide concerted effort to destroy everything we believe in").

Mr. DeLay's solipsistic wailing should be a further caution to the Republican majority who went along with the replacement of the ethics panel chairman and the neutering of its rules after the committee issued three cautions to Mr. DeLay. He was told to temper his autocratic behavior in dealing with members, lobbyists and federal agencies.

The panel purge, a favor by Speaker Dennis Hastert, was aimed at protecting Mr. DeLay from more investigation of complaints about such lapses as his reported junketeering on lobbyists' money. Beyond the House, Texas prosecutors have filed money-laundering charges against DeLay political operatives. Mr. DeLay denounces all these matters as vicious assaults. For a while, he even had House rules crimped last year to let him remain in power if he were indicted. That scandalous touch of homage was reversed after Republicans felt constituent heat that they were following the leader too far.

It is time for more such second thoughts. Any new money for the ethics panel will be wasted unless Republican members, wary of being yoked to Mr. DeLay, demand that the rules be stiffened to gain some ethical credibility in the House.

"The Hammer" co-author Lou Dubose talks with RadioNation

Marc Cooper of RadioNation interviews the outspoken, cogent co-author of The Hammer, Lou Dubose. Worth a listen.

Common Cause has a great run-down, petition tops 15,000

Common Cause put out talking points and a great Q&A today on DeLay's scandals.

A quick update on the petition to demand that Congress clean up its act Without DeLay: We're well over 15,000. These petitions also get forwarded to your member of Congress to notify them you want DeLay to go. Sign it today and pass it on!

DeLay scandals on Nightline tonight, guest is Bev Carter, tune in

ABC News' Nightline will have DeLay's hometown newspaper editor, Bev Carter of the Fort Bend Star, on tonight to discuss all of his transgressions.

I think Carter will be a fascinating guest. (I hope I'm not jinxing her!) She is a local Republican Party precinct chair who came out publicly to oppose him in 2004. Not just that, as I wrote in an October post, she signed an editorial explaining all her reasons (and there were many, many reasons) why she couldn't put party and Tom DeLay over principle. Carter withstood a local firestorm at the local party committee, which tried to oust her.

Tune in and watch. Check local listings.

(Thanks to reader Patricia for the tip.)

DeLay = Gingrich?

"The recent swirl of ethics charges surrounding Rep. DeLay plays just about the same here in Texas as it does anywhere else outside the Beltway," writes Jonathan Gurwitz in a Wall Street Journal op-ed today, says ABC.com's The Note:

"'Tom was stupid for messing with corporate money,' a prominent Houston GOP leader told me, referring to allegations that a political action committee founded by Mr. DeLay may have violated state law by misusing corporate donations. 'If he's not careful, he'll end up like Gingrich.'"

Maureen Dowd on DeLay

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd calls out DeLay:

Mr. DeLay moved yesterday to file a friend of the court brief with the Supreme Court asking that Ms. Schiavo's feeding tube be restored while the federal court is deciding what to do. But as he exploits this one sad case, Mr. DeLay has voted to slash Medicaid by $15 billion, denying money to care for poor people in nursing homes, some on feeding tubes.

Mr. DeLay made his personal stake clear at a conference last Friday organized by the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group. He said that God had brought Terri Schiavo's struggle to the forefront "to help elevate the visibility of what's going on in America." He defined that as "attacks against the conservative movement, against me and against many others."

So it's not about her crisis at all. It's about his crisis.

0%: So much for caring for children, Tom

Tom DeLay cares about raising money from corporate fat cats for his two children's charities. But when it comes to putting his voting record where his wallet is, he comes up with a big ZERO, according to the Children's Defense Fund's new nonpartisan scorecard.

DeLay, unhinged

Even if you're paranoid, they can still be out to get you.

DeLay, in his own words, to the Family Research Council on Friday, via TIME:

"It is more than just Terri Schiavo. This is a critical issue for people in this position, and it is also a critical issue to fight that fight for life, whether it be euthanasia or abortion. I tell you, ladies and gentlemen, one thing God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo to elevate the visibility of what's going on in America. That Americans would be so barbaric as to pull a feeding tube out of a person that is lucid and starve them to death for two weeks. I mean, in America that's going to happen if we don't win this fight.

"And so it's bigger than any one of us, and we have to do everything that is in our power to save Terri Schiavo and anybody else that may be in this kind of position, and let me just finish with this:

"This is exactly the kind of issue that's going on in America, that attacks against the conservative moment, against me and against many others. The point is, the other side has figured out how to win and to defeat the conservative movement, and that is to go after people personally, charge them with frivolous charges, link up with all these do-gooder organizations funded by George Soros, and then get the national media on their side. That whole syndicate that they have going on right now is for one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to destroy the conservative movement. It is to destroy conservative leaders, and not just in elected office, but leading. I mean, Ed Feulner, of the Heritage Foundation today was under attack in the National Journal. This is a huge nationwide concerted effort to destroy everything we believe in. And you need to look at this, and what's going on and participate in fighting back.

"You know, one way they stopped churches from getting into politics was Lyndon Johnson, who passed a law that said you couldn't get in politics or you're going to lose your tax-exempt status, because they were all opposed to him when he was running for President. That law we're trying to repeal. It's very difficult to do that, but the point is, when they can knock out a leader, then no other leader will step forward for a while, because they don't want to go through the same thing. If they go after and get a pastor, then other pastors shrink from what they should be doing. It forces Christians back into the church. That's what's going on in America. The world is too bad and I'm going to get inside this building and I'm not going to play in the world. That's not what Christ asked us to do.

"And so they understand that. It is a political maneuver, and they are going to try to destroy the conservative movement, and we have to fight back, so please, this afternoon, each and every one of you, if you know a senator, give them a call. They'll say our bill can pass in the House. Tell them, okay, your bill is fine, but the House bill is better, and I want the House bill. Particularly if you know Democrats. Don't let them get off the hook by hiding behind one House and the other is adjourned. We can do anything we need to do to pass any bill that we need to pass."

Republicans go after Ethics Coalition; did I hear someone say echo chamber?

Gotta know that this was coming... the House GOP has had enough of this DeLay stuff. So they trump out their talking points and research report, and label any group standing up for ethics as "liberal" or getting money from Open Society Institute as somehow in George Soros' pocket. Including us, apparently. Oh boy.

My response: I'll debate the House GOP anyday on the role of money in politics, especially when they're awash in:

• Wall Street money and supporting privatization of Social Security,
• Polluter money and opposing sensible environmental and health protections, and
• Big bank and credit card money and pushing an awful bankruptcy bill.

The list could go on.

The Hill has the full run down in tomorrow's (Easter recess -- d'oh!) paper.

But I have to say, the most interesting nuggets reporter Alex Bolton put together were these:

Over a five-day span, ending last Thursday, TV and radio stations and print publications from around the country featured at least 290 stories either about a controversial junket he took to Scotland in 2000, his response to criticism about the propriety of that trip or his offer to discuss the matter with the House ethics committee, according to a survey. The articles by The Associated Press, Reuters, Knight Ridder and The Washington Post were picked up by news outlets around the country.

The latest spate of broadcasts and articles, a glut of the type of negative coverage that has plagued DeLay in recent years, likely explains why his name identification has risen from 46 percent to 76 percent between September 1999 and last month, according to several CNN/USA Today/ Gallup surveys of adults nationwide, cited by Democrats. During the same span, DeLay’s unfavorable ratings have swelled from 11 percent to 24 percent, according to the same surveys.

“The DeLay scandal is getting to the point where House Republicans just won’t be able to withstand much more,” a Democratic aide said. “With every story that is written, it becomes more clear that House Republicans are risking their political futures by associating themselves with him. When literally hundreds of stories about the GOP leader’s shoddy ethics are appearing in nearly every local and regional paper across the country, you can’t blame voters for painting them all with the same brush.” (emphasis gladly added)

So, in that context, the GOP looks a little desperate going after little ol' us, huh? Time to turn up more heat.

My two cents on the Brooks NYT piece.

David Brooks of the New York Times, as Rick posted a while ago, has an interesting piece on all the Abramoff/Scanlon scandals. But the strange thing is, he writes the piece about all the news swirling around DeLay without, strangely, mentioning DeLay's role. How can you write this story without DeLay? (WithoutDeLay.org, nice ring to it!) He even titles it "Master of Sleaze." But the kicker is the pull quote in the print edition: "The bucks stop here."

No, it doesn't. The buck stops with the leader of the most corrupt Congress in recent memory, Tom DeLay. Perhaps Mr. Brooks needs a diagram.

DeLay Clip Roundup

In the NYT today, conservative columnist David Brooks has plenty to criticize as he gazes upon the GOP generally and Tom DeLay specifically. He despairs of the make-money-fast culture among the conservative political corps now that the Republicans control Congress and the White House. Lobbyists and activists--many with strong ties to Tom DeLay--have been quick to compromise principles if there is lucre involved:

"Soon the creative revolutionaries were blending the high-toned forms of the think tank with the low-toned scams of the buckraker. Ed Buckham, Tom DeLay's former chief of staff, helped run the U.S. Family Network, which supported the American family by accepting large donations and leasing skyboxes at the MCI Center, according to Roll Call. Michael Scanlon, DeLay's former spokesman, organized a think tank called the American International Center, located in a house in Rehoboth Beach, Del., which was occupied, according to Andrew Ferguson's devastating compendium in The Weekly Standard, by a former "lifeguard of the year" and a former yoga instructor."

There's more great stuff there...read the column!

Also in the NYT, an interesting article on how the GOP has embraced the Terri Schiavo case as a political cause, and how Tom DeLay, for one, sees the issue as being heaven sent to help him with his current troubles. "One thing that God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo, to help elevate the visibility of what is going on in America...This is exactly the issue that is going on in America, of attacks against the conservative movement, against me and against many others," the paper reports that DeLay told a conference organized by the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group.

Finally, the AP reports that the "man known as the Hammer is taking a pounding" in Washington these days, and that "he finds himself in a situation similar to what Gingrich faced." Stay tuned.

Molly Ivins, on the money

I don't know how I missed this Molly Ivins column last week, but miss it I did. Even still, it's worth a read. Here are a few pitch-perfect paragraphs:

Doing favors for big campaign donors may indeed be an "everybody does it," but when those favors take the form of laws that directly hurt your people, you're supposed to draw the line. Over the line is where Texas pols would put using a children's charity as a cover for collecting soft money from special interest groups and then spending it on dinners, a golf tournament, a rock concert, Broadway tickets and so forth. Because the money was supposedly for a charity, Celebrations for Children, Inc., special interests who wanted favors from DeLay were able to give him money without revealing themselves as campaign donors. Cute trick, Tom, but a really cruddy thing to do.

In another example of ethical rot, DeLay took a $100,000 check from the Corrections Corporation of America, a company that runs private prisons in Texas and has a 20-year history that includes mismanagement and abuse. CCA wants the Texas Lege, over which DeLay exercises considerable sway because he's a money conduit, to privatize the prisons. And that check? Made out to DeLay's children's charity, the DeLay Foundation for Kids. Barf.

Another quality that makes DeLay an un-Texas pol is that he's mean. By and large, Texas pols are an agreeable set of less-than-perfect humans and quite often well-intentioned. As Carl Parker of Port Arthur used to observe, if you took all the fools out of the Lege, it would not be a representative body any longer. The old sense of collegiality was strong, and vindictive behavior -- punishing pols for partisan reasons -- was simply not done. But those are Tom DeLay's specialties, his trademarks. The Hammer is not only genuinely feared in Washington, he is, I'm sorry to say, hated.

Some of the ethics charges against DeLay are just plain old-fashioned grubby -- letting a lobbyist pay for a fancy hotel in London and a golf trip to St. Andrews (DeLay claims he didn't know it was lobby money, even though he was accompanied by the lobbyist). What sets DeLay apart is his response when his shoddy behavior is exposed. He has been admonished three times by the House Ethics Committee, so did he clean up his act? Nope, he went after the chairman of the ethics committee, threw him out, got the rules changed and then stacked the committee with his close allies. "The ethics process in the House of Representatives is in total shambles," said Fred Wertheimer, a longtime D.C. crusader on ethical issues.

I haven't even mentioned DeLay's apparent violation of Texas campaign finance law, quite a feat, since we only have the one. Or the whole nasty and absurd redistricting mess, or the dubious donations to his legal defense fund, or the Indian casino gambling saga, or, or, or.

Medicaid funding, and a culture of money

Today the American Progress Action Fund's Progress Report points out that Tom DeLay has taken every opportunity to vote to slash Medicaid funding—which has paid for Terri Schiavo’s care:

Schiavo’s medications are paid for by Medicaid. Just last week, DeLay marshaled a budget resolution through the House of Representatives that would cut funding for Medicaid by threatening the quality of care for people like Terri Schiavo. Because the Senate voted to restore the funding, DeLay is threatening to hold up the entire budget process if he doesn't get his way.

Also worth mentioning: DeLay has taken nearly $783,000 from health care interests since 1989. Health professionals are his second top contributing industry, and pharmaceutical/health products rank second. Makes you wonder.

Passionate people may disagree over the Terri Schiavo case. But one thing we should all agree on: People in need of health care should be able to receive it, and DeLay's vote to slash Medicaid funding, on which the Schiavos depend for care, is indefensible in this light. It's not enough to say you support a culture of life while your actions lead to gutting the funds for the very programs that lead to healthier lives.

Editorial in Denver Post asks if DeLay is worth the "ethical stain"

The Denver Post ran an editorial over the weekend describing how convenient it was for DeLay to offer to sit down with members of the Ethics Committee after he had already evicerated the rules and replaced independent thinkings with yes-men.

The key passage, from my perspective:

DeLay is becoming a major distraction to the Republicans' legislative agenda. How long will it be before they realize that DeLay, a political enforcer so powerful he's nicknamed The Hammer, isn't worth the ethical stain on GOP integrity?

Tipping Point?

The Austin American-Statesman asks if DeLay is reaching a tipping point for the GOP... (from OfftheKuff.com)

More than 12,000 have signed the petition...

...to demand Tom DeLay's resignation from Congress. Please sign up today, and forward the petition on to friends and family. Our goal is to more than double this in the next seven to ten days. But we need your help to do it. Pass it on!

An important part of this campaign is putting pressure on DeLay's allies in Congress to recognize that it's time for the Majority Leader to step down. That's why, when you sign the petition, your member of Congress is notified that you think it's time for Tom DeLay to go. To help focus these efforts strategically, we will be rolling out a list of members of Congress who we believe should feel pressure from you. Stay tuned.

Also, look for additional voices to join this fight. I've been talking with other organizations, and it looks like others will add taking on Tom DeLay as a priority, or will increase the work they're already doing regarding ethics and DeLay.

He's gotta spend the money on something

Bobby R. Burchfield, Tom DeLay's "outside counsel" -- or "lawyer" for us simple folk -- responds to the Washington Post's allegations in a letter to the editor. DeLay's legal defense fund has raised $1 million. Guess that lawyer of his has to earn his money somehow.

As for the letter, I'm not sure it's worth rebutting. But I might. Later.

Coincidence...maybe not.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Hance Scarborough Woodward & Weisbart LLP, the law firm that is defending TRMPAC in its civil case in Texas, also happens to be the firm of choice for former Abramoff client the Louisiana Coushattas. Partner Terry Scarborough is representing TRMPAC while former US Representative Kent Hance has taken on the Coushattas--after they dumped Abramoff and since the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee launched public hearings.

Big shocker here: Kent says it's all a "coincidence" that the firm has these two DeLay related clients.

Some additional stories, commentaries on DeLay

An op-ed from Bill Press warns GOP that a train wreck is coming unless they get behind the wheel of the ethics process.

The San Antonio Express-News covers Rep. Lamar Smith insistence he can be a fair-minded member of the Ethics Committee, despite giving DeLay's legal defense fund $10,000 and helped TRMPAC raise lots of money. Fair-minded... Right. Will Smith get a refund if DeLay is guilty? Will DeLay need more money for legal defense if he's hauled in front of Smith and the rest of the committee? Maybe, if that happens, they can just have a fundraising instead. (Thanks to Houtopia.com for the tip.)

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch raises interesting questions about DeLay and the power-hungry understudy, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO). Is Blunt angling to climb the leadership ladder if DeLay goes? How much will those who want DeLay's position have to defend him and how much behind the scenes maneuvering must they set in motion to spring at a moment's notice. Sub rosa leadership fights like this result in lots of tea leave-reading and palace intrigue. Any rumors?

Donnelly on MSNBC

In case you missed it, click here to watch David Donnelly talk about Tom DeLay on MSNBC. (13 MB, requires Real Player).

Pray for Tom DeLay, and other news round-ups

Ken Bode, formerly of CNN and now a journalism professor at DePauw University, pens an oped for the Indianapolis Star that starts out with language from an urgent email alert asking recipients to pray for "Christian statesman" Tom DeLay. It's reminiscent of the statements made by Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation earlier this week that the attacks against DeLay were "spiritual warfare." The op-ed invokes the late Hunter S. Thompson at the end:

DeLay recently issued a statement saying the revelations of his trips to England and South Korea are not ethical lapses. Luxury travels with lobbyists paid for by gambling interests? Junkets to South Korea paid for by registered foreign agents? How long will GOP members in the House tolerate these embarrassments?

To paraphrase Hunter S. Thompson, Tom DeLay is beginning to look like a farmer with terminal cancer trying to borrow money on next year's crop.

Sidney Blumenthal does a good survey of all of DeLay's troubles for Salon (watch a silly ad), particularly the Jack Abramoff/Michael Scanlon/Ralph Reed/Native American tribe casino scandals. The money 'graphs about that (caution -- could make your blood boil):

Teaming up with DeLay's former press secretary, Scanlon, Abramoff charged Indian tribes seeking help for their casinos a total of $66 million in fees. He directed them to funnel money to a variety of Republican groups, including Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform and DeLay's political action committee. With Indian money flowing into Republican coffers, DeLay declared in 1995 that "people recognize that Jack Abramoff has been an important part of this transition." Abramoff also turned for help to another old College Republican friend, Ralph Reed, who was paid $4.2 million between 2001 and 2003 to organize through his consulting firm (Century Strategies) Christian constituencies against Indian gambling interests that competed with Abramoff's Indian clients. (Reed's front groups also received funds from Indians.)

One tribe, the Tigua in Texas, whose casino was under siege from Reed's lobbying, felt compelled to seek help from the main Republican lobbyist for Indian tribes, Abramoff. On Feb. 6, 2002, Abramoff e-mailed Scanlon under the subject line "I'm on the phone with Tigua": "Fire up the jet, baby, we're going to El Paso!" Scanlon replied: "I want all their MONEY!!!" Abramoff e-mailed Reed: "I'd love us to get our mitts on that moolah!!" When the El Paso Times ran the story "450 Casino Employees Officially Terminated," Scanlon e-mailed it to Abramoff: "This is the front page of today's paper while they will be voting on our plan!" Abramoff wrote back: "Is life great or what!!!!" (You can read all the e-mails here.) The Tigua paid $1.8 million in fees, but in the end Abramoff and Scanlon failed to get their casino reopened. "A rattlesnake will warn you before it strikes," said the Tigua leader. "They did everything behind our backs."

Go ahead, Ralph. Run for statewide office in Georgia.

And, the Los Angeles Times editorializes about volcanoes.

The Hill: DeLay rakes in $1.5 million for ten colleagues

This is how he tries to keep them loyal.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) will receive an overwhelming outpouring of support — in cold, hard cash — from his fellow GOP lawmakers at tonight’s Retain Our Majority Program (ROMP) fundraiser.

DeLay has raked in more than $1.5 million from his fellow lawmakers and will funnel that money to the 10 most vulnerable colleagues, as identified by House leadership.

That figure amounts to $300,000 more than he raised for the same event two years ago and indicates DeLay’s enduring clout as one of the party’s premier fundraisers, even as he has been battered by Democrats and has faced a series of news reports questioning his ethics.

Those 10 lawmakers will all post more than $150,000 for the first quarter of fundraising, which ends March 31.

ROMP was designed by DeLay in 1999 as a way to channel money from members representing solidly Republican districts to their more marginal members. By topping off their vulnerable lawmakers’ accounts by March 31, Republicans hope to ward off potential opponents by letting them know that any challenge would be expensive.

More than 90 GOP lawmakers are participating in tonight’s event, said Jim Ellis, director of DeLay’s Americans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee (ARMPAC). Only 2 percent of the $1.5 million comes from K Street, with the idea to tap business-community PACs later in the cycle, Ellis said. [Ed. note: ELLIS IS INDICTED! Isn't that pertinate information?]

To participate in tonight’s event, lawmakers had to contribute $1,000, the maximum amount that can be transferred from a personal campaign account before the primary, according to Republicans’ understanding of Federal Election Commission regulations.

Leadership PACs are allowed to transfer $5,000, and several lawmakers, including DeLay, maxed out from their PAC accounts.

“Overall, this shows an overwhelming commitment of the conference for maintaining and expanding our majority,” Ellis said.

“We’re at 1.5 million and change. I don’t think we’ll get to 1.6,” he said. “This is bigger than the other four ROMPs I’ve done.”

The 10 beneficiaries are Reps. Bob Beauprez (Colo.), Mike Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Jim Gerlach (Pa.), Marilyn Musgrave (Colo.), Anne Northup (Ky.), Jon Porter (Nev.), Dave Reichert (Wash.), Rick Renzi (Ariz.), Rob Simmons (Conn.) and Mike Sodrel (Ind.).

Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), who narrowly won his race in November, was not included on the ROMP list. Shays was a vocal critic of a proposed change in the House rules that would have allowed DeLay to stay on as majority leader if indicted.

[...]

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), who heads the DCCC Frontline program, said that he was confident that all 10 members would post impressive March 31 figures, but he didn’t have any specifics.

For the next ROMP, Republicans are likely to add another 10 beneficiaries, which will be a mixture of incumbents and promising challengers. There will also be a final 10 added to the list, and most of those will be challengers, with a few late-breaking vulnerable incumbents.

Ron Reagan blogs about DeLay

Ron Reagan, son of the late president, blogged about his show (on which I appeared today). He was an ally.

Drill this

Tom DeLay will be front and center in the push to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, now that the Senate has voted 51-49 yesterday in favor of the proposal. And no wonder: the Congressman has gotten $557,900 from oil and gas interests for his campaign funds since 1989 -- the top industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. He also has raised more cash from these companies’ executives and Political Action Committees than 99% of his House colleagues.

It's no secret where DeLay stands on drilling in Alaska. He revealed his motives in a closed-door meeting with fellow conservatives back in 2003, reported by Roll Call, when he said that opening the refuge is a first step to drilling in other environmentally sensitive areas. “It’s about the precedent,” he told them, and, reported the paper, he “even joked that a victory on ANWR would allow the oil industry to push into other pristine areas, “except the coast of California.”

Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) -- a strong DeLay ally -- reportedly replied that drilling off California was “ok with him.”

Donnelly on Air America

If you missed David Donnelly on Air America last night, you can click here and download the Real Media file of his appearance (7.1 MB).

Donnelly To Appear on MSNBC!

David Donnelly will appear on MSNBC at 12:00 PM EST on "Connected: Coast to Coast." Check your local listings for stations.

Bush backs DeLay

It's incredible that he's even being asked. From Congress Daily:

ETHICS

Bush Lends DeLaySupport; Hastert Defends Rules Changes

President Bush today expressed his support for House Majority Leader DeLay amid a recent barrage of news stories concerning allegations of ethical misbehavior, while House Speaker Hastert defended a series of rules changes that critics say were intended to shield DeLay. During a White House news conference, Bush appeared to express an unequivocal endorsement of DeLay, clearly indicating he expects the majority leader to stay in power. "I have confidence in Tom DeLay's leadership, and I have confidence in Tom DeLay," he said. "We've worked closely with Tom DeLay and the leaders in the House to get a lot done during the last four years, and I'm looking forward to working with him to get a lot done during the next four years."

LA Times unearths some more dissent in GOP ranks

Two key quotes showing that Republicans are edgy, from today's LA Times:

"We all wish there were not news stories about Tom DeLay, but there are," said Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.). "He is a tough character. Like him or not, everyone needs to recognize how tough and durable he is. I wouldn't bet against him. But there's no question that it's something we all wish would go away, and over time, it probably will."

[...]

One senior House Republican voiced his concerns to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's (R-Ill.) chief of staff after seeing a front-page story on DeLay in one of his home-state newspapers Tuesday morning.

"The perception is that we're not in control of the ethics process, that DeLay can do what he wants," said the lawmaker. "It's giving the party a bad name…. This thing is no different and has the same flavor and tone as when we knocked Jim Wright out."

Just finished Scarborough Country radio show.

I just had ten minutes with former GOP member of Congress Joe Scarborough on his radio show. While he agreed DeLay has gone too far -- citing the firing of two members of the Ethics Committee, Reps. Joel Hefley (R-CO) and Kenny Hulshof (R-MO) -- Joe basically stuck with the "everyone's doing it" defense.

The problem with that is all too evident. The system is broken, so let's just throw up our hands and say nothing can be done while big money interests and their congressional friends like Tom DeLay scratch each other's backs. With tax dollars, the quality of people's lives, our security, and other critical decisions at stake in Washington, this "everyone's doing it" defense just falls too short and is too defeatist.

But Joe let me give the reasons why DeLay should go, and tried to give out our campaign URL (it's www.withoutdelay.org, not .com, but thanks).

One question I was hoping to ask him, but ran out of time:

Joe, if you were a member of Congress today, would you keep silent about DeLay's scandals or would you speak out? Would you suggest to him, as a loyal Republican, that he is doingmore harm than good now for your party?

Maybe you can answer on your "blog"?!?

We'll have a recording of the show in a little while.

Donnelly To Be On National Radio Shows!

David Donnelly will be a guest on two radio shows today.

The first interview will take place at 12:20 PM EST on "The Joe Scarborough Show" on the TNT radio network (it's also on the Westwood One network). If you don't know what station this show is on in your area you can listen to it live via the internet by going to http://www.wtntam570.com/line-up/scarborough.html and clicking the "Listen Live" link.

Donnelly will also appear on Air America Radio's "The Majority Report" at 7:50 PM EST. Click here to find out if there is an Air America affiliate station in your area or click here to listen to the show via the internet.

Without DeLay campaign... New URL

www.WithoutDeLay.org is the new URL for the campaign to demand Tom DeLay's resignation. As of 9:30 p.m. EST, 3,326 people have signed on.

Look for our web ads on a variety of sites tomorrow.

Convenient the Ethics Committee is closed.

From Congress Daily:

House Majority Leader DeLay told reporters today he has instructed his staff to contact the Ethics Committee to clarify his role in two trips he made overseas that may have violated House ethics rules. "I'm anxious to discuss them," DeLay said of the trips. "There's nothing sinister about this." However, the Ethics Committee is not fully operating since it failed to approve its internal rules last Friday because of a partisan deadlock over GOP-supported changes to ethics rules at the beginning of the 109th Congress. It is unclear in what capacity the Ethics Committee could provide guidance to DeLay, although he said he would welcome discussions with Ethics Chairman Hastings and ranking member Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va. DeLay singled out recent reports in The Washington Post that implied he may have voted against gambling legislation opposed by a group linked to a conservative think tank that paid for one of his trips overseas.

DeLay said the articles lacked "any factual basis" and said they used "implication and innuendo" to draw conclusions. DeLay, in turn, said Democrats are infusing the ethics process with partisanship and engaging in the "politics of personal destruction" to bring him down. "In recent years, there has been a growing frenzy surrounding the Ethics Committee, with Democrats and their allies attempting to use it as a partisan tool for partisan ends," he said. "It's very unfortunate that Democrats have no agenda. All they can do is carry on in the House and try to burn it down in order to gain power." DeLay maintained that he has never violated House rules or ethics rules.

Never violated House rules? Huh?

Chicago Tribune focuses on scandals' impact on others

Jill Zuckman of the Chicago Tribune identifies the trouble territory for DeLay and the Republicans:

A groundswell of criticism generated by alleged ethical lapses concerning House Majority Leader Tom Delay is forcing the Texas lawmaker to seek support from GOP colleagues and is threatening to harm the Republican legislative agenda on Capitol Hill.

DeLay plans to start talking to fellow Republicans in his own defense this week, a senior aide said, as Democrats intensify their attacks on him in an effort to neutralize their longtime foe.

While DeLay defends himself against questions about his fundraising activities and travels, as well as the dealings of lobbyists closely aligned with his office, Democrats and their supporters are sensing a rare opportunity and have launched a multipronged effort to publicize the allegations against him.

...

Deny Deny Deny

AP: Tom DeLay Denies Any Wrong-Doing

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay strongly denied wrongdoing Tuesday in connection with two overseas trips financed by outside organizations, and said he is eager to discuss the facts with leaders of the House ethics committee.

"I feel confident I've done nothing wrong," the Texas Republican said as fellow lawmakers and aides sought to assess the impact of fresh controversy on the party in general.

The Texas Republican laid the blame for the recent controversy at the feet of congressional Democrats and what he charged was inaccurate newspaper reporting.

He said there was nothing wrong with either of the two trips. One involved going to South Korea in 2001 — a trip bankrolled by the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council.

The other trip was to Britain in 2000. The Washington Post reported Saturday that the cost of that voyage was picked up mostly by an Indian tribe and a gambling services company.

In unusually direct terms, DeLay criticized the Post story, accusing the paper of a "zeal to leave readers with a false impression that I did something that I did not do."

The Post did not immediately have a comment.

...

American-Statesman gets it right.

An editorial from the Austin American-Statesman hit the nail (or the Hammer) on the head. The last four paragraphs are exactly right:

How long the GOP will put up with DeLay's power plays and ethical lapses is a matter for speculation. But some Republicans already are acknowledging that DeLay's position is weakening.

One Republican consultant quoted recently resorted to a remarkable bit of verbal gymnastics to describe DeLay's position. "The situation is negatively fluid right now for the guy," he said.

DeLay brought this on himself. His scorched-earth partisanship, coziness with lobbyists and flippant attitude toward House ethics rules made him a vulnerable target.

Republicans would be wise to get themselves another majority leader before more damage is done.

From Burnt Orange Report.

It's time for DeLay to go. Join us.

Tom DeLay is a national embarrassment. It's time for DeLay to resign from Congress.

Today, Public Campaign Action Fund is launching a new campaign to force Tom DeLay to step down. His corrupt pay-to-play politics, complete disregard for any ethics guidelines, and power hungry brand of partisanship all leads us -- and we hope you -- to demand his resignation.

We have started this Without DeLay: Clean Up Congress Now campaign with an on-line petition, which we urge you to sign by clicking here. If anyone needs a refresher as to why DeLay must go, read our top ten reasons. (American Progress has a good list on their Think Progress blog, too.)

If you have a blog or a website, or you post to one, please consider writing about this campaign and linking to it with this link: http://www.pcactionfund.org/withoutdelay/. We also have a blog ad available for downloading. See it on the left. Click here to download.

As this campaign unfolds, we will call upon members of Congress to heed this demand and join us in calling on DeLay to resign from Congress or step down from his leadership position. This campaign, after all, is about you and your ability to have your voice and your views matter more than big money in Congress.

This is not a campaign for the faint of heart. But few things worth winning are easy won. We will need your ideas, your input, your guidance, and your action.

News on DeLay is everywhere

The Daily DeLay will try to be your one-stop shopping for news on Tom DeLay.

There's a lot of it. If we've missed something, post a comment with the URL. But with the volume of stories, some of our news posts will have fewer quotes and a lot little less analysis...

To get everyone up to speed, here are some links:

TIME magazine -- exposes relationship between DeLay and former aide, now power-broker Ed Beckham

Newsweek -- Breaking news that the FBI is investigating money that was contributed to the think tank that may have funded DeLay's trip to England and Scotland

NY Times (Sunday) -- DeLay is continuing to rake in money from corporate interests and members of Congress for his legal defense fund

LA Times -- Chuck Neubauer follows up his reporting last week about who funded DeLay's golf trip to Scotland

Washington Post (Saturday) -- Gambling interests funded DeLay's travel

Houston Chronicle -- DeLay's hometown paper does a wrap up of all his troubles

The Story of the Day

From Mike Allen from the Washington Post:

DeLay Ethics Violations Now a Cause of GOP Concern

(Nobody is on top of the myriad of stories about DeLay's corrpution like Mike Allen.)

Few few paragraphs sum it up well:

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) has dismissed questions about his ethics as partisan attacks, but revelations last week about his overseas travel and ties to lobbyists under investigation have emboldened Democrats and provoked worry among Republicans.

With some members increasingly concerned that DeLay had left himself vulnerable to attack, several Republican aides and lobbyists said for the first time that they are worried about whether he will survive and what the consequences could be for the party's image.

"If death comes from a thousand cuts, Tom DeLay is into a couple hundred, and it's getting up there," said a Republican political consultant close to key lawmakers. "The situation is negatively fluid right now for the guy. You start hitting arteries, it only takes a couple." The consultant, who at times has been a DeLay ally, spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying he could not be candid otherwise.

At least six Republicans expressed concern over the weekend about DeLay's situation. They said they do not think DeLay necessarily deserves the unwanted attention he is receiving. But they said that the volume of the revelations about his operation is becoming alarming and that they do not see how it will abate.

But go read the whole thing.

There were a handful of other stories over the weekend (I was away with my family -- sorry for the late postings!), and I'll do a wrap up later.

Congressional Ethics Coalition sends a letter to Hastert and Pelosi

We signed on to this letter (PDF) to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) urging that they initiate an ethics inquiry into the stories from this past week involving travel expenses paid for by registered lobbyists and registered foreign agents.

The other members of the Congressional Ethics Coalition to sign the letter included Public Citizen, Judicial Watch, Center for Responsive Politics, Common Cause, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Rep. Melissa Hart

2 Political Junkies write up GOP Pennsylvania Rep. Melissa Hart's DeLay problems.

All tied up

The House Ethics Committee won't be investigating any of the new allegations surfaced in the nation's newspapers this regarding Tom DeLay and other members any time soon...

Mike Allen of the Washington Post continues his good coverage with a story this morning describing the stalemate at the House Ethics Committee. Ranking Democratic Rep. Alan Mollohan of West Virginia is leading a mini-protest of sorts -- the Democrats on the Ethics Committee are refusing to ratify to the congressional rules adopted back in January. Some of those rules made it highly unlikely that the Ethics Committee would investigate anything at all, so it's not necessarily a bad idea to tie up the Ethics Committee to make the point.

The question is, who will be blamed? If this goes on for a while and the Republicans don't agree to rewrite the committee rules for Ethics, we've got essentially the status quo -- no investigations. But it's possible that the Democrats risk sharing the blame that could be squarely placed at the feet of the GOP. Now, if Hastert, DeLay and others cave and agree to a more open ethics process, then it's worth it. We'll keep watching this, though my hunch is that it will move a glacier speed. Until it doesn't.

DeLay treated for heart condition

Associated Press

We wish Majority Leader Tom DeLay a speedy recovery and good health.

"Yes I raised money for them."

The Houston Chronicle also covers the DeLay reaction to the subpoenaed emails that surfaced in yesterday's New York Times story.

There are a handful of interesting things here, which should be picked up by enterprising journalists.

The first is these quotes from DeLay:

"Yes, I raised money for them," DeLay said in an interview with the Houston Chronicle, brushing aside any implication that his activities might have been illegal. He has never been named as a target in the criminal investigation.

"Everything that TRMPAC did, they did under the advice of lawyers," he said. "When you have lawyers advising you every step of the way in writing, it's very hard to make a case stick."

This is the farthest DeLay has gone in admitting a connection to TRMPAC and the actual workings of the group. But it begs the question, Did he raise corporate money or just individual funds? The next few sentences seem to set us up for the acknowledgement that he raised corporate funds:

The organizers of TRMPAC set up two bank accounts, one for corporate contributions and another for noncorporate donations, DeLay said.

Asked if he was involved in the transfer or disbursement of TRMPAC funds, he replied, "Absolutely not. The only thing I knew about that was, they created, which I agreed with in my advisory capacity ... two separate funds, two separate bank accounts."

The second interesting issue here is this... Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't remember DeLay doing anything but scoff, brush aside, or redirect any questions regarding TRMPAC. This is the first time, in recent months anyway, DeLay has actually answered substantive questions with substance.

The third thing I noticed was that DeLay did a separate interview with the Houston Chronicle. These are different quotes than you'll find in the AP or others' stories today. Now that might not be a big deal -- it is his hometown paper after all -- but the fact that he feels it necessary to sit down with the Chron can be seen as evidence that he is paying particular attention to how this plays in the district.

Very interesting...

Who's came up with TRMPAC?

The Associated Press covers today's New York Times piece on the subpoenaed emails implicating DeLay, and adds in this curious response from the Majority Leader himself:

In Washington, DeLay said the civil case showed only that he took an interest in the committee he helped create.

"Yes, it was my idea. It was our idea -- those of us that wanted to enhance the Republicans that served in the House of Representatives and in the Texas Legislature came up with this idea," he said. "They took the idea and ran with it. I was on the advisory board."

DeLay said that, as an adviser, he agreed the committee should set up a separate account for corporate and campaign contributions: "I thought that was a good idea."

My... our... those of us... they... I...

It gets sooooo confusing.

Setting up a separate fund for corporate funds... yeah, that's a good idea. Obeying the law, that's even a better one.

DeLay responds to NYT

From the CongressDaily:

DeLay dismissed a report today in The New York Times that suggested he was more closely involved in the daily activities of TRMPAC, a state PAC he helped found to back state candidates. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't read The New York Times," he said.

Congressmen Bass and Bradley, take note

Congressman Charlie Bass (R-NH) and Congressman Jeb Bradley (R-NH) should take special note of the ending to this editorial from today's Keene Sentinel:

What? Ethics?

To balance today’s many reports on the exercise of good government, we turn to the subject of Tom DeLay. He is the majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives whose ethics problems have confirmed aspects of his character already known to the Texas Democrats he fantastically redistricted out of jobs and wavering House members in Washington who know why he’s called “The Hammer.”

DeLay is also known for being the object of an unusual and fruitless effort by henchmen last year to suspend rules that govern the treatment of congressmen charged with felony crimes (he hasn’t been so charged). Regarding specific behavior, DeLay has been criticized by fellow Republicans for being a bit too close to operatives who took advantage of Indian tribes; he has been rebuked by a House committee for being cozy with energy industry lobbyists; and he has been publicly chastised by his peers for trying to bribe a House member with political support for the man’s son.

DeLay’s latest escapade involves his apparently having let a registered lobbyist pay his hotel bills in London — a violation of House ethics rules. DeLay, whose salary has gone up half a dozen times in the last eight years, apparently couldn’t afford the lodging himself.

DeLay has a ready explanation. He says he likes to travel, but not particularly with other congressmen. So he flies in the company of conservative interests who apparently like spending time with someone considered a possibility for the speakership of the House, when that spot becomes available.

For a good many years, when the Democrats controlled the House, Republicans had a fine time pillorying House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill as an embodiment of the worst excesses of liberal politics. Under no circumstances do we — or would we — consider Tom DeLay an embodiment of Republican virtue; his misbehavior simply brings too much discomfort to some of his party colleagues. The wonder of it is that they keep him in office. (emphasis added)

When local newspapers, local activists, and other political players start placing pressure on GOP members to distance themselves from, or repudiate the actions of, Tom DeLay, that is when he will be forced to resign.

DeLay, Ney, Feeney caught in the rough

Chuck Neubauer and Walter F. Roche Jr. of the L.A. Times write up a triple bogey.

Paul Krugman on the bankruptcy bill DeLay has promised to fast-track

Paul Krugman paints a clear picture of what the Senate will vote on today with this awful bankruptcy bill "written for and by the credit card companies":

To the extent that there is significant abuse of the system, it's concentrated among the wealthy - including corporate executives found guilty of misleading investors - who can exploit loopholes in the law to protect their wealth, no matter how ill-gotten.

Chalk one up for "the industry's political muscle." We're gonna do more on this here at the Daily DeLay, for as it moves to the House, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has said he will fast-track it. The bankruptcy bill may just become the latest in a long list of paybacks DeLay has given to political donors. But before it comes to a vote in the House, we need to fight this one.

More trouble for DeLay: Subpoenaed emails put him in the middle

From the New York Times:

Documents subpoenaed from an indicted fund-raiser for Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, suggest that Mr. DeLay was more actively involved than previously known in gathering corporate donations for a political committee that is the focus of a grand-jury investigation in Texas, his home state.

The documents, which were entered into evidence last week in a related civil trial in Austin, the state capital, suggest that Mr. DeLay personally forwarded at least one large corporate check to the committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, and that he was in direct contact with lobbyists for some of the nation's largest companies on the committee's behalf.

In an August 2002 document subpoenaed from the files of the indicted fund-raiser, Warren M. RoBold, Mr. RoBold asked for a list of 10 major donors to the committee, saying, "I would then decide from response who Tom DeLay" and others should call to help the committee in seeking a "large contribution."

Another document is a printout of a July 2002 e-mail message to Mr. RoBold from a political ally of Mr. Delay, requesting a list of corporate lobbyists who would attend a fund-raising event for the committee, adding that "DeLay will want to see a list of attendees" and that the list should be available "on the ground in Austin for T.D. upon his arrival."

Under Texas law, corporations are barred from donating money to state political candidates. The Texas committee acknowledged receiving large corporate donations during the 2002 campaign but always insisted that the money was used for administrative costs, which is legal.

Read the whole thing...