Posted on 04/10/2005 2:50:39 PM PDT by FairOpinion
"Tom's conduct is hurting the Republican Party, is hurting this Republican majority and it is hurting any Republican who is up for re-election," Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., told The Associated Press in an interview, calling for DeLay to step down as majority leader.
DeLay "becomes the poster child for a lot of the things the Democrats think are wrong about Republican leadership. As long as he's there, he's going to become a pretty good target," Dodd said on ABC.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
We will always have targets in our party. Last time it was Trent Lott and it took conservatives and liberals to make him step down. I doubt most people believe we are more than marginally better off with Frist, and I think we are worse off with Frist. If we dropped DeLay the rats would focus on someone else. Very few moderates will vote against their RINO representative because DeLay remains in the party...no matter what they think of DeLay. DeLay is effective that is why they call him the hammer. The rats can sling all the mud they want and DeLay will ask "Is that all you got?" I like DeLay.
You pinhead, Christopher Shays is NOT OUR OWN. Puhleeze, give me a break!
Mr. Shays is a weak-knee'd idiot. He may as well be counted as a democrat - he votes like one. If we EVER start taking the opinion of the likes of Christopher Shays as important, then we are in a HEAP of trouble.
Here's an analogy -- I used to castrate cattle for a living. If Chris Shays ever presented himself as such material, I'd need a freakin' electron microscope to be able to determine he had a pair, much less to remove them.
You can love and value Chris Shays all you want, but those of us who really know politicians would tell you he never "had a pair."
"Shut Up"
How witty and 'Democratic' of you. Restrict free speech, huh?
As a Republican, a Republican district organizer, and campaign contributer; I feel that I know a little about Tom Delay. I actually do grunt work for the party.
Right now, Delay is not very popular with Republicans and as he has become the 'issue' and polarized the party.
I think the party deserves leadership that is not a sleazy political hustler. We are better than that.
Since you are an expert on Delay, what conservative legislation has he got through the Capital recently? No much as he has been hiding out due to his ethics investigation.
Pray for W and Our Troops
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has been a busy man these last few years. Whether bribing congressmen, threatening political opponents, vacationing with lobbyists, or gutting House ethics rules, it's been hard to keep up with all the Hammer's activities. Here are 12 recent highlights from DeLay's illustrious career:
Delay Raises Corporate Cash for TRMPAC: DeLay is embroiled in a scandal in Texas for his active participation in illegally funneling corporate funds to assist state political campaigns. DeLay's political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC), is under criminal investigation for using corporate money to finance Texas campaigns. DeLay has tried to distance himself from the group, but documents show DeLay "personally forwarded at least one large check" to the group and was "in direct contact with lobbyists for some of the nation's largest companies" on TRMPAC's behalf. [Source: NYT, 3/10/05; Salon, 10/04/04]
Delay Bribes Congressman to Vote for Medicare: DeLay has admitted offering to endorse Sen. Nick Smith's (R-Mich.) son Brad, who was running for Congress at the time, in exchange for Smith's "yea" vote on the Medicare bill. His actions violated House rules and earned DeLay a "public admonishment" from the Ethics Committee. Smith originally alleged – and then retracted after pressure from House leaders – that DeLay also offered a $100,000 bribe for his vote. DeLay extended the role call on the Medicare bill for nearly three hours in order "to avoid an embarrassing loss." [Slate, 10/1/04; WP, 10/1/04]
Delay Uses Taxpayer Money for Partisan Stunt: The House ethics panel rebuked DeLay for using government resources to help locate a private plane he thought was carrying Texas Democratic legislators. DeLay was trying to force the legislators back to the capitol so he could push through his "bitterly disputed congressional redistricting." The ethics report cited House rules that bar members from taking "any official action on the basis of the partisan affiliation...of the individuals involved" and said DeLay's behavior raised "serious concerns under such "standards of conduct." [WP, 10/7/04]
Delay Pays for Golf Tournaments with Cash Meant for Kids: DeLay used a children's charity, Celebrations for Children Inc., as cover for collecting soft money from anonymous interest groups, some of which was used for "dinners, a golf tournament, a rock concert, Broadway tickets and other fundraising events" at the Republican convention in New York. Because the money was supposedly for charity, companies wishing to curry favor with DeLay were able to do so without revealing themselves as campaign donors. Federal laws governing tax-exempt charities allow no more than an insubstantial portion of a group's revenue to be spent on activities other than the charity's main stated purpose. [CBS, 11/14/03; WP, 3/24/04]
Delay Promises 'Seat At Table' for Donor: In one of its three public rebukes, the House Ethics Committee cited the belief on the part of executives at an energy company, Westar Energy Inc., that a $56,500 contribution to a political action committee associated with DeLay would get them a "seat at the table" where key energy legislation was being drafted. DeLay also participated in Westar's golf fundraiser at The Homestead resort in the summer of 2002, " just as the House-Senate conference on major energy legislation ... was about to get underway." [WP, 10/7/04]
Delay Takes Money from Texas Prison Company with Legislation Pending: DeLay "took a $100,000 check from a private prison company" – the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) – at a fundraiser for his children's charity, the DeLay Foundation for Kids. CCA – whose 20-year history has been "fraught with malfeasance, mismanagement, and abuse" – was part of an ongoing lobby for a bill that would privatize up to half of Texas's jails. DeLay is known for wielding major influence over the Republican-led legislature that will decide on the matter. [Knight Ridder, 11/30/04; Texas Observer, 6/6/03]
Delay Blocks Legislation for Partisan Vendetta: In 1999, DeLay received a "private rebuke" for threatening retaliation against the Electronic Industries Association when the trade group named a Democrat to head its Washington operation. To punish the group, DeLay stopped two uncontroversial trade bills that would have benefited the EIA and told the association it would lose all GOP access unless it hired a Republican instead. The group still hired the Democrat, but a little later, the EIA quietly hired a former House Republican staff member who promptly showed up at a fundraiser for DeLay's ARMPAC. [Texas Observer, 2/4/00; Slate, 12/5/98]
Delay Takes Shady Donations for Legal Defense Fund: The list of recent donors to DeLay's legal defense fund includes two lawmakers placed on the House Ethics Committee this year (they replaced conservatives who were purged for being critical of DeLay), and corporations implicated in DeLay's alleged fundraising violations. Corporate donors include Bacardi U.S.A., the rum maker that has also been indicted in the Texas investigation, and Reliant Energy, "another major contributor to a Texas political action committee formed by Mr. DeLay that is the focus of the criminal inquiry." In December, DeLay was forced to return funds from registered lobbyists because those contributions violated House ethics rules. [NYT, 3/13/05; Time, 3/13/05]
Delay Leaves Ethics Behind On European Vacation: DeLay enjoyed a luxurious vacation at the Four Seasons Hotel in London in mid-2000, paid for by an Indian tribe and a gambling services company, both of which opposed gambling legislation DeLay voted against two months later. The payment was funneled through lobbyist Jack Abramoff, best known for teaming up with right-wing religious fundamentalist Ralph Reed to close down a Texas casino operated by the Tigua Indians in 2002, then persuading the tribe to pay the two of them $4.2 million to lobby Washington lawmakers, including DeLay, to reopen it. According to expense accounts obtained by the Journal, Abramoff financed DeLay and DeLay's staff's stay at the Four Seasons hotel to the tune of $4,285.35. The total reimbursement for expenses in London was $13,318.50. [WP, 3/12/05; Raw Story, 2/25/05; WP, 9/29/04]
Delay Leaves House Rules Behind on Asian Vacation: DeLay accepted an expense-paid trip to South Korea which, in direct violation of House rules, was paid for by a South Korean lobbying group. The Korea-U.S. Exchange Council, a group registered with the Foreign Agents Registration Act, was created with help from DeLay's former chief of staff. The cost to send DeLay, his wife and three of his lawmaker friends to Seoul for three days was $106,921, the fourth largest cost for any single trip taken by lawmakers between January 2000 and September 2004. [WP, 3/10/05]
Delay Kicks Ethics out of House: DeLay and his allies in the House have sought to cripple the House Ethics Committee. The committee, which rebuked DeLay three times last year, was purged of its most "responsible" members last month and is currently "paralyzed" by a proposed rules change that "would prevent the committee from launching any investigation without the support of at least one Republican-a restriction designed to protect the majority leader." [WP, 2/5/05; WP, 10/7/04; Time, 3/13/05]
Delay Tries to Change Rules to Protect Power: DeLay was the driving force behind the decision by House leaders to abandon an 11-year-old party rule that "required leaders to step aside temporarily if indicted." The idea was dropped only after rank-and-file lawmakers complained "the party was sending the wrong message." [NYT, 11/18/04; WP, 3/11/05]
Shays -still a spineless RINO!
Shays is a liberal punk.
Folks in his state should get the nuts to run a real republican against him.
Delay should not step down.
If he does...republicans will lose their mandate....that they refuse to use.
Democrats are afraid of Delay...and they think they can start up bogus charges and make certain RINOS cave like they did on Lott. I'm not a big Lott fan...but still.
Democrats always do this....and weak kneed republicans always cave.
We need a third party. Too many Republicans in the Senate and House lack the balls to fight for the cause.
Reason #2 Delay should be asked to step down. Pandering to fringe groups who don't care what the Constitution says if it gets in the way of their motives is not what any conservative should expect from Republican leadership
As for his dealings otherwise, if he broke the law, or was caught bending it, I don't care what letter he has by his name. It's called holding all politicians accountable to their oath of office. Beside the fact that he called for the national government to overstep its bounds in what was clearly a state issue is just a side note. Get rid of him. Maybe the Republican Party could look around in the House and find a conservative member to lead? That is, if there are more than one or two left in the party
There is plenty of support for Delay.
I have heard several radio shows where Republicans from DC have voiced their support.
The MSM won't report it. They have coordinated their reports with the DNC...just like the elections.
I HAVE YET TO SEE ANY EVIDENCE PRESENTED OF DELAY BE GUILTY OF THESE..."NEW CHARGES".
No laws broken....No ethic broken. HOWEVER...PELOSI HAS VIOLATED RULES WITH TRIPS....AND DONATIONS...THAT WENT TO HER AT A TIME WHEN SHE WAS PUSHING FOR FEDERAL GRANTS FOR THE FOLKS WHO GAVE THOSE TRIPS AND DONATIONS.
Republicans refuse to throw that in the Dems face full time.
They are too weak. This is why I don't want Kay Bailey Hutchinson's RINO self coming back to Texas to run for Governor.
We have enough problems with some RINO leanings in Austin....we don't need a liberal like Kay Bailey adding to it.
Some sources there.
(In this respect we should learn from the Dems, who always just brazen things out, and close ranks and support the Dem being accused.)
Yeah, we saw the wonderful results they got from that! In the short run it looked like the Dems got away with the Lautenberg shananigans, the funeral turned political rally, etc. People saw an unethical party and punished them. The GOP did the same thing in Illinois by electing a governor with questionable ethics. The Illinois GOP is almost no more because of it.
I'm not saying that they should skewer DeLay. If there is a real ethical problem they should not cover it up. If there is no ethical problem they should defend him and go on the attack.
I want more thana few stupid Democrats out of congress because I feel they are not loyal to America. One punched out his wife. One went to Iraq and sucked up to Saddam a short time before the invasion. A couple of them from Calif. have some real issues of being too stupid to be in office. One congressman used his office to handle police business for his little boytoy playmate and he still serves. I do not like Tom Delay but he is not the most rotten and nasty congress person serving today. The object for the Democrats is to scream and yell and throw enough &%$* against the wall and see what sticks. They did it to Livingston and Gingrich. Delay should tell them to go suck an egg.
I see you've been studying your DNC talking points....
You hit the big IF there is a problem question.
The truth of the matter is 99% of what is being presented by the MSM and Dem's and faux policy groups (backed by people like George Soros) and legitimized by MSM reporting unfounded accusations, innuendo and old non-news as news shows that DeLay has done NOTHING WRONG.
But, by keeping up with the slanted insinuations and deliberate misrepresentations, the MSM and Dem's hope to damage him so a RINO or Dem can come after him in the election and they desperately want him out of leadership because he's one of the few in leadership that has guts and will take on tough issues.
The responsible position for conservatives who really want "fairness" is to demand that coverage of ALL Congressman be consistent and factual and if it ain't factual and LEGITIMATE, write letters to the editor, cancel subscriptions, boycott advertisers and demand responsible journalism.
When the MSM feels it in the pocketbook, they may start trying to be legit themselves. Talk about SLEAZE!!!
I am a conservative Republican who does not like Delay. Don't believe me? Check out my previous posts on this site over the years.
Mark my words, Delay is going to resign or be pushed out by Republicans. Even President Bush has started to distance himself from Delay.
"On board Air Force One as it headed back to Texas after the funeral of Pope John Paul II, Bush was asked to respond to DeLay's attacks against judges.
DeLay particularly attacked those who refused to order the reinsertion of a feeding tube for Terri Schiavo, a severely brain-damaged Florida woman.
"I believe in an independent judiciary. I believe in proper checks and balances" between branches of government, the president said, joining other high-profile Republicans who have distanced themselves from DeLay's strident critique of judges."
Delay is losing popularity in his own district.
"In past elections, DeLay, who won his House seat in 1984, has coasted to victory, often with more than 60 percent of the vote. Last November he won, 55-41 percent.
Last week, a Houston Chronicle poll in the district indicated that 49 percent of those surveyed would vote for someone else."
I imagine the MSM will be calling Christy Todd Whitman to give her opinion and try to validate her book, "Its My Party Too" which says that the GOP is too extreme. The Delay saga is followed only by news junkies. The swing voters don't know or care about Tom Delay. Thus we should not be worried about it.
Shays is from Connecticut
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