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News From The
Progressive States Of America
4/11/05
What was, was. What will be is up to us.
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This newsletter is from Freedom Strategies, Inc., an exciting new enterprise
dedicated to searching the globe for important underreported news and
neglected commentary that significantly affects the nation and the world,
and seeks to raise awareness and promote discussion of
those issues.
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Tom DeLay
Special Edition
By Some strange
twist of fate we seemed to have missed Republican Majority Leader Rep. Tom
DeLay’s 58th birthday last Friday.
Aw toooooo bad!
On Sunday, one of DeLay’s well wishers said, "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."
That was Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn. calling for DeLay to step down as
majority leader.
And here are some reasons, defenses and funny bits that should make us all
want to see we can make his retirement start earlier and be much longer he
planned.
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A 3rd DeLay Trip Under Scrutiny
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28319-2005Apr5.html
1997 Russia Visit Reportedly Backed by Business Interests
By R. Jeffrey Smith and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post - - A six-day trip to Moscow in 1997 by then-House Majority
Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was underwritten by business interests lobbying in
support of the Russian government, according to four people with firsthand
knowledge of the trip arrangements.
DeLay reported that the trip was sponsored by a Washington-based nonprofit
organization. But interviews with those involved in planning DeLay's trip
say the expenses were covered by a mysterious company registered in the
Bahamas that also paid for an intensive $440,000
lobbying campaign.
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DeLay defends
travels, denies wrongdoing
WASHINGTON (AP) --
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.
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The TRMPAC
Scandal
Follow the trail
at:
http://www.democrats.org/specialreports/trmpac/
In Texas, it's illegal for corporations to make donations to fund political
campaigns.
So Tom DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee (TRMPAC)
took $190,000 in corporate contributions and funneled them to the RNC, which
then donated exactly $190,000 to TRMPAC-supported candidates.
DeLay and TRMPAC are currently under investigation by a grand jury.
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Tom Delay
Funneled More Than $500,000 To His Wife And Daughter
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/06/politics/06delay.html?
By PHILIP SHENON
Published: April 6, 2005
WASHINGTON, April 5 - The wife and daughter of Tom DeLay, the House majority
leader, have been paid more than $500,000 since 2001 by Mr. DeLay's
political action and campaign committees, according to a detailed review of
disclosure statements filed with the Federal Election
Commission and separate fund-raising records in Mr. DeLay's home state,
Texas.
Most of the payments to his wife, Christine A. DeLay, and his only child,
Dani DeLay Ferro, were described in the disclosure forms as "fund-raising
fees," "campaign management" or "payroll," with no additional details about
how they earned the money.
The payments appear to reflect what Mr. DeLay's aides say is the central
role played by the majority leader's wife and daughter in his political
career.
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DeLay blasts
media over report of payments to family
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/04/06/delay.reponse/
From Ted Barrett
CNN Washington Bureau
Wednesday, April 6,
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay defended his family
Wednesday, saying newspaper articles about his wife and daughter and about
his trip to Russia were "seedy" efforts by the "liberal media" to humiliate
him.
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The House
Medicare Vote Bribery Scandal
http://www.democrats.org/specialreports/delaycasefile/#new
Tom DeLay and the Republican leadership kept open the vote for the Medicare
bill for three hours -- long past the 15 minutes specified in House
procedures -- in order to pressure Republicans to vote for the bill. Rep.
Nick Smith (R-MI) said GOP leaders offered "bribes and special deals,"
leading to an investigation by the Ethics Committee, which admonished DeLay.
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House Ethics
Committee admonishes DeLay again
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/07/delay.ethics/index.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- For the second time in two weeks, the House Ethics
Committee has issued admonishments to Majority Leader Tom DeLay over his
conduct, warning the Texas Republican to "temper" his future actions to
comply with House rules and standards of conduct.
The committee announced Wednesday evening that it had unanimously admonished
DeLay on two counts of an ethics complaint filed against him by Rep. Chris
Bell, a Texas Democrat who lost his re-election bid after Texas legislators
passed a redistricting plan engineered by the No. 2 House Republican.
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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.” [Time, 3/13/05]
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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]
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DeLay plays
offense behind the scenes
Plays defense in
public in fighting ethics allegations Thursday, March 24, 2005
WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay often plays defense in
public in his fight against allegations of ethical misconduct, saying he
didn't know about specific fund-raising practices under investigation in
Texas or groups in Washington that paid for his travel.
Behind the scenes, though, the House majority leader has gone on offense
like few public figures before him. With his blessing, Republican leaders
remade House ethics rules and the committee that reprimanded him last year,
inserting allies and policies more favorable to his circumstances.
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Senator Rick
Santorum Seeks DeLay Explanation
Rick Santorum, the
No. 3 Republican in the Senate, said Sunday that DeLay needs to explain his
conduct to the public.
"I think he has to come forward and lay out what he did and why he did it
and let the people then judge for themselves," Santorum told ABC's "This
Week." "But from everything I've heard, again, from the comments and
responding to those, is everything he's done was according to the law.
"Now you may not like some of the things he's done," said Santorum, who is
up for re-election next year in Pennsylvania. "That's for the people of his
district to decide, whether they want to approve that kind of behavior or
not."
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Republican
leader warns judges: You will answer for this
www.thestar.com
TIM HARPER
WASHINGTON—The end of the Terri Schiavo passion play immediately reignited a
bitter political debate in this country yesterday, one which will have
repercussions from the White House to the U.S. Supreme Court and threatens
the political fortunes of those on both sides of the issue.
Condolences quickly gave way to anger and accusations, with the top
Republican in the House of Representatives warning judges at both the state
and federal level they will have to answer for their actions.
"The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their
behaviour," said Tom DeLay, the Republican leader who moved the Florida case
to the federal arena.
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Ode to Tom
DeLay
A Rep whose name
is Tom DeLay
He breaks the rules most ev'ry day.
He don't respect the law,
Thinks ethics are a bore.
'Tis time to show him crime don't pay... (From MadKane)
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Fire Tom DeLay
Republican
Majority Leader Rep. Tom DeLay has a pattern of repeated legal and ethical
scandals. Yet he remains in one of the most important positions in our
government—deciding what legislation Congress considers.
Sign Move On’s petition to urge Congress to fire Tom DeLay as Majority
Leader.
http://www.moveonpac.org/delay/?id=5320-5499457-3.GoRgdcotJ5Y26k
3Qj75Q&t=1
Or go to The True Majority site:
http://truemajority.kintera.org/dumpdelay
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