Ethics Panel Rebukes DeLay: Majority Leader Offered Favor To Get Peer’s Vote
DeLay admonished by House ethics panel
My Congressman is a corrupt, venal, power-mad troglodyte (of course, other than that, he has many admirable and charming qualities…I think….). Now the House ethics committee has offered up a surprising rebuke against Tom DeLay. Apparently, the evidence was so overwhelming that not even the Reublicans on the ethics committee could whitewash the reality. Gee, Tom DeLay? Corrupt? I had NO idea…. When did this happen??
The House ethics committee admonished Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) last night for offering a political favor to a Michigan lawmaker in exchange for the member’s vote on last year’s hard-fought Medicare prescription drug bill.
After a six-month investigation, the committee concluded that DeLay had told Rep. Nick Smith (R-Mich.) he would endorse the congressional bid of Smith’s son if the congressman gave GOP leaders a much-needed vote in a contentious pre-dawn roll call on Nov. 22.
“This conduct could support a finding that … DeLay violated House rules,” the committee said in its 62-page report. “… It is improper for a member to offer or link support for the personal interests of another member as part of a quid pro quo to achieve a legislative goal.”….
It’s rare for a high-ranking congressional leader to draw the admonition of the ethics committee. In January 1997, the ethics committee voted 7 to 1 to recommend that House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) be reprimanded and pay a $300,000 penalty for disregarding House rules in misusing tax-exempt funds to promote his conservative political agenda….
Last month, a Texas grand jury indicted three of DeLay’s political associates in a case involving a political committee affiliated with the majority leader. The House ethics committee is weighing a complaint against DeLay, unrelated to the Smith matter, which involves the Texas group and two other matters.
In a statement last night, DeLay said he accepted the ethics committee’s “guidance,” adding: “During my entire career I have worked to advance my party’s legislative agenda. However, to this end, I would never knowingly violate the rules of the House.”
Of course, in the end, DeLay will conduct business as he ever has. The House ethics panel will investigate Rep. Chris Bell’s complaint, but in the end, that complaint will be negotiated down to the equivalent of jaywalking. Tom DeLay will walk away with the equivalent of a slap on the wrist. Ultimately, NOTHING will change. DeLay will continue his emulation of Niccolo Machiavelli, and he will continue to pursue the only thing that is important to him- the furtherance and continued aggregation of his own political power.
In fact, the only people that can permanently change things are the voters here in Texas District 22. There IS an alternative that will provide the people of this district with an ethical and honest alternative to the the venal, dishonest, and thoroughly corrupt representation we are currently saddled with.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
