Cockroach DeLay Gets Gassed--and Squirms Into A Greasy GOP-thug Hole
HoustonChronicle.com - DeLay undermines small 'd' democracy
By U.S. REP. CHRIS BELL
U.S. Majority Leader Tom DeLay is the most corrupt politician in America.
That will not come as news to those of you who have been paying attention in recent years. But it takes on added relevance this week in the wake of formal charges I have filed against him alleging criminal conspiracy, including bribery, extortion, fraud, money laundering and abuse of power.
Predictably, to try and deflect attention from those charges, DeLay and his associates have opened fire with personal attacks and threats of political retribution against me and many of my colleagues.
But the charges filed against him this week are deadly serious -- DeLay's ongoing assault on the most basic tenets of our small `d' democratic system is no laughing matter. Truly, this isn't about partisan politics. This isn't about retribution. This is about ethics in government. This is about protecting the integrity of our democracy. And I am confident that any reasonable person, Republican or Democrat, who examines the full complaint, will come to the same conclusion.
Specifically, our 187-page complaint details how DeLay's Texas-based political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) laundered illegal corporate funds and funneled them to legislative races in Texas during the 2002 elections. Using corporate funds to pay for political campaigns is a third-degree felony in Texas, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Currently, criminal charges are being pursued by the Travis County district attorney.
The vast majority of corporate dollars DeLay funneled into Texas campaigns came from out-of-state companies with no interest in the Lone Star State, companies such as Westar Energy, a Kansas-based utility.
There is strong, well-documented evidence to suggest DeLay illegally solicited and accepted political contributions from executives at Westar in exchange for official action.
Westar executives wrote a number of checks to DeLay and his associates. These contributions were made in return for an amendment to the energy bill, then pending before a House Committee, which would have saved Westar Energy -- and only Westar Energy -- billions in taxes. In plain English, he sold legislation and illegally doled out "corporate welfare" at taxpayer expense.
Finally, our charges document how DeLay used his taxpayer-funded office to strong-arm federal agencies that should have been investigating terrorists into tracking down his political opponents.
Last summer, during the contentious redistricting debate, DeLay used his position as an officer of the federal government to improperly divert the homeland security-related efforts of two government agencies. DeLay exhorted the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Justice Department to hunt down his political enemies in the Texas Legislature. The order was illegal and a clear abuse of federal government resources and of DeLay's power.
All of these charges are substantially documented, supported by original source information, IRS tax returns, Texas Ethics Commission filing documents, sworn court testimony, relevant news reports based on factual information, e-mail correspondence and congressional committee reports. The information is compelling.
DeLay himself points out that all these charges have been heavily covered in the media, an indisputable fact. Well, they have garnered so much attention because there is a mountain of evidence to suggest the truth of these charges. But it is important to understand that, while the media has been talking about these very allegations for over two years, they have never been investigated by the House Ethics Committee or any other federal agency. Never.
No one is above the law in our society, no matter how powerful -- not even Tom DeLay.
Members of Congress have a unique responsibility to the people we serve. We cannot stand idly by and allow one of our colleagues to arrogantly violate federal law or House rules in an effort to leverage his personal political ambitions at the expense of the very democracy for which we have all sworn to protect.
DeLay will continue to attack me in an attempt to divert your attention from the real issue at hand: his actions. I am not the first to attract his wrath for having the temerity to suggest his accountability. But I hope my fellow lawmakers will approach the charges filed this week in a nonpartisan way, with the seriousness of purpose the democratic process demands.
Throughout my public service career, I have worked for more openness and honesty in government. As chairman of the Ethics Committee, while a Houston city councilman and as a member of the Government Reform Committee during my tenure in Congress, I have learned that fighting for more ethical government is never easy. But it is always the right thing to do.
(Time to get this stinking bastard under a REAL INVESTIGATION instead of letting him slip the noose again. Like any cockroach, he can live on a sliver of oxidized grease or a small rat turd for six months. Eating shit is easy for cockroaches and DeLay, since all he cares about is being able to crawl out of his filthy hole and lie, steal, and do it under cover of darkness.
But he, and unfortunately, most GOP-thugs, carry disease. They must be held to the same laws that all of us must be held to. No one is above the law. (Remember that phrase? GOP-thugs used it to decry the last duly-elected President's hand-around from a fat girl)
Certainly not this son-of-a-bitch. This stinking, rotten to the core son-of-a-bitch Tom DeLay.
A. J. Franklin
June 21, 2004)
By U.S. REP. CHRIS BELL
U.S. Majority Leader Tom DeLay is the most corrupt politician in America.
That will not come as news to those of you who have been paying attention in recent years. But it takes on added relevance this week in the wake of formal charges I have filed against him alleging criminal conspiracy, including bribery, extortion, fraud, money laundering and abuse of power.
Predictably, to try and deflect attention from those charges, DeLay and his associates have opened fire with personal attacks and threats of political retribution against me and many of my colleagues.
But the charges filed against him this week are deadly serious -- DeLay's ongoing assault on the most basic tenets of our small `d' democratic system is no laughing matter. Truly, this isn't about partisan politics. This isn't about retribution. This is about ethics in government. This is about protecting the integrity of our democracy. And I am confident that any reasonable person, Republican or Democrat, who examines the full complaint, will come to the same conclusion.
Specifically, our 187-page complaint details how DeLay's Texas-based political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) laundered illegal corporate funds and funneled them to legislative races in Texas during the 2002 elections. Using corporate funds to pay for political campaigns is a third-degree felony in Texas, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Currently, criminal charges are being pursued by the Travis County district attorney.
The vast majority of corporate dollars DeLay funneled into Texas campaigns came from out-of-state companies with no interest in the Lone Star State, companies such as Westar Energy, a Kansas-based utility.
There is strong, well-documented evidence to suggest DeLay illegally solicited and accepted political contributions from executives at Westar in exchange for official action.
Westar executives wrote a number of checks to DeLay and his associates. These contributions were made in return for an amendment to the energy bill, then pending before a House Committee, which would have saved Westar Energy -- and only Westar Energy -- billions in taxes. In plain English, he sold legislation and illegally doled out "corporate welfare" at taxpayer expense.
Finally, our charges document how DeLay used his taxpayer-funded office to strong-arm federal agencies that should have been investigating terrorists into tracking down his political opponents.
Last summer, during the contentious redistricting debate, DeLay used his position as an officer of the federal government to improperly divert the homeland security-related efforts of two government agencies. DeLay exhorted the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Justice Department to hunt down his political enemies in the Texas Legislature. The order was illegal and a clear abuse of federal government resources and of DeLay's power.
All of these charges are substantially documented, supported by original source information, IRS tax returns, Texas Ethics Commission filing documents, sworn court testimony, relevant news reports based on factual information, e-mail correspondence and congressional committee reports. The information is compelling.
DeLay himself points out that all these charges have been heavily covered in the media, an indisputable fact. Well, they have garnered so much attention because there is a mountain of evidence to suggest the truth of these charges. But it is important to understand that, while the media has been talking about these very allegations for over two years, they have never been investigated by the House Ethics Committee or any other federal agency. Never.
No one is above the law in our society, no matter how powerful -- not even Tom DeLay.
Members of Congress have a unique responsibility to the people we serve. We cannot stand idly by and allow one of our colleagues to arrogantly violate federal law or House rules in an effort to leverage his personal political ambitions at the expense of the very democracy for which we have all sworn to protect.
DeLay will continue to attack me in an attempt to divert your attention from the real issue at hand: his actions. I am not the first to attract his wrath for having the temerity to suggest his accountability. But I hope my fellow lawmakers will approach the charges filed this week in a nonpartisan way, with the seriousness of purpose the democratic process demands.
Throughout my public service career, I have worked for more openness and honesty in government. As chairman of the Ethics Committee, while a Houston city councilman and as a member of the Government Reform Committee during my tenure in Congress, I have learned that fighting for more ethical government is never easy. But it is always the right thing to do.
(Time to get this stinking bastard under a REAL INVESTIGATION instead of letting him slip the noose again. Like any cockroach, he can live on a sliver of oxidized grease or a small rat turd for six months. Eating shit is easy for cockroaches and DeLay, since all he cares about is being able to crawl out of his filthy hole and lie, steal, and do it under cover of darkness.
But he, and unfortunately, most GOP-thugs, carry disease. They must be held to the same laws that all of us must be held to. No one is above the law. (Remember that phrase? GOP-thugs used it to decry the last duly-elected President's hand-around from a fat girl)
Certainly not this son-of-a-bitch. This stinking, rotten to the core son-of-a-bitch Tom DeLay.
A. J. Franklin
June 21, 2004)
posted by A. J. Franklin @ 18:55
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