Tom Delay's special treatment

[strandinthewind]

I mean REALLY
________________________________________________________

Republicans move to protect DeLay's leadership position

WASHINGTON (AP) — Moving to protect Majority Leader Tom DeLay, House Republicans want to change party rules to ensure that DeLay retains his post if a Texas grand jury indicts him as it did with three of his political associates.
The House Republican Conference, composed of all GOP members in the chamber, was to vote Wednesday to modify a requirement that would force DeLay to step aside if charged with a felony requiring at least a two-year prison term.

Party rules require leaders to relinquish their posts after a felony indictment, but the change would eliminate the requirement for non-federal indictments.

A grand jury in Travis County, Texas, is investigating alleged irregularities in 2002 state legislative races. Republican victories in those contests enabled DeLay ultimately to win support for a congressional redistricting plan that resulted in the GOP's gain of five House seats in Texas in this month's elections.

There is no indication that DeLay faces charges, but the majority leader has called the investigation — led by a retiring Democratic prosecutor — a partisan attack on him.

House Democrats have a step-aside provision that applies to federal and state proceedings similar to the current Republican rule, and their leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, was highly critical of the GOP proposal.

"If they make this rules change, Republicans will confirm yet again that they simply do not care if their leaders are ethical. If Republicans believe that an indicted member should be allowed to hold a top leadership position in the House of Representatives, their arrogance is astonishing," Pelosi said.

The new language was proposed by Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-Texas, who was helped by the redistricting. Bonilla was re-elected in 2002 with less than 52% of the vote. After the boundaries were changed, he won this month with 69% of the vote.

Jessica Boulanger, spokeswoman for third-ranking House Republican Roy Blunt of Missouri, said Tuesday her boss supported the proposal.

The majority whip "believes the allegations are baseless, and they were political in nature. So he supports the proposed rules change by Congressman Bonilla."

Bonilla spokeswoman Taryn Fritz Walpole said the proposed change is intended to "prevent political manipulation of the legislative process" and reduce the possibility of "political exploitation and intimidation of House leadership and chairmanship positions."

In September, the grand jury indicted three political operatives associated with DeLay and eight companies, alleging campaign finance violations related to corporate money spent in the 2002 legislative races. The corporate donations were made to Texans for a Republican Majority, a political action committee created with help from DeLay.

DeLay said he was not questioned or subpoenaed as part of the investigation, led by retiring prosecutor Ronnie Earle.

The majority leader said after the indictments, "This has been a dragged-out 500-day investigation, and you do the political math. This is no different than other kinds of partisan attacks that have been leveled against me that are dropped after elections."

In October, the House ethics committee rebuked DeLay for appearing to link political donations to a legislative favor and improperly persuading U.S. aviation authorities to intervene in the Texas redistricting dispute.

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Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washing...17-delay_x.htm

[dissention]

And just think, this comes right on the heels of Reid's appointment as Senate Minority Leader. I'm ready to go down to the town hall and change my party to Green or Independent, I've no use for the Democrats anymore. After they lost the election, they immediately went as far to the right as possible. And, in doing so, appointed an anti-abortion "Democrat" to lead them.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by dissention

And just think, this comes right on the heels of Reid's appointment as Senate Minority Leader. I'm ready to go down to the town hall and change my party to Green or Independent,

You probably won't be alone.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

You probably won't be alone.

It's a comfort to know that I'll be in good company.

If it comes down to a Bush versus a Democrat, it's obvious who I'll vote for, but they won't ever get my money again. Not even if HoDe became the DNC chairman.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by dissention

It's a comfort to know that I'll be in good company.

If it comes down to a Bush versus a Democrat, it's obvious who I'll vote for, but they won't ever get my money again. Not even if HoDe became the DNC chairman.

The whole move towards the middle is a waste of time IMO. They need to move back toward the left. So, color me Green. Howard is saying he is not interested in being Chairman now, so I don't know. Does John honestly htink if he does nothing about this that he will be a viable candidate again in '08?

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

The whole move towards the middle is a waste of time IMO. They need to move back toward the left. So, color me Green. Howard is saying he is not interested in being Chairman now, so I don't know. Does John honestly htink if he does nothing about this that he will be a viable candidate again in '08?

Well, I think for the last few years I have been an Independent. Other than in this last election, I do not think I have ever voted for a straight D ticket.

So, welcome to the room - everyone {{{Hugs}}}

BTW - I agree - history demonstrates that a collective move by a society lasts only until there is a maverick with charisma a la Clinton in the beginning. So, it is only a matter of time. I mean did they learn nothing from Dean's popularity before he imploded

[dissention]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

The whole move towards the middle is a waste of time IMO. They need to move back toward the left. So, color me Green. Howard is saying he is not interested in being Chairman now, so I don't know. Does John honestly htink if he does nothing about this that he will be a viable candidate again in '08?

I will not vote for him again. Give someone else a shot, you blew yours.

What I find laughable is how the D's see moving towards the middle as, in itself, a political strategy. It's not, especially a viable one. No one in the Bible Belt believes it one bit. Arianna had a fab op-ed about it, let me find it!

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by dissention

I will not vote for him again. Give someone else a shot, you blew yours.

What I find laughable is how the D's see moving towards the middle as, in itself, a political strategy. It's not, especially a viable one. No one in the Bible Belt believes it one bit. Arianna had a fab op-ed about it, let me find it!

I saw Arianna's Op-Ed. it was very good.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

I saw Arianna's Op-Ed. it was very good.

Her pieces always are.

[dissention]

The rules were officially changed a little while ago for Delay. So much for moral values in the Republican party.

[heyjupiter678]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...7.html?sub=new

House GOP Approves Rule Change to Protect DeLay

By Larry Margasak
The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 17, 2004; 1:24 PM

House Republicans approved a party rules change Wednesday that could allow Majority leader Tom DeLay to retain his leadership post if he is indicted by a Texas grand jury on state political corruption charges.

By a voice vote, and with a handful of lawmakers voicing opposition, the House Republican Conference decided that a party committee of several dozen members would review any felony indictment of a party leader and recommend at that time whether the leader should step aside.

The current party rule in this area requires House Republican leaders and the heads of the various committees to relinquish their positions if indicted for a crime that could bring a prison term of at least two years. It makes no distinction between a federal and state indictment. Three of DeLay's political associates already have been indicted by that Texas grand jury.

Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-Texas, said that under the change embraced Wednesday, the House Republican Steering Committee would have 30 legislative days to review a felony indictment and recommend to all House Republicans whether a lawmaker who is charged could remain as a committee chairman or leader.

There is no indication that DeLay will be indicted in connection with a Travis County, Texas, campaign finance investigation. But the majority leader has called the probe a partisan attack on him.

Bonilla said there was no vote count taken in the closed meeting but said the proposal passed overwhelmingly.

"This takes the power away from any partisan crackpot district attorney who may want to indict" party leaders and make a name for himself, Bonilla said.

Lawmakers said that DeLay did not publicly push for the change and did not participate in the closed-door debate which lasted several hours.

Bonilla said the leader would not have to step aside while fellow party members considered whether an indictment was frivolous.

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[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by dissention

The rules were officially changed a little while ago for Delay. So much for moral values in the Republican party.

It's so ludicrous. They want everyone to follow their rules except for themselves. I wish I could just change the rules when they don't suit me.

[amber]

Originally Posted by dissention

It's a comfort to know that I'll be in good company.

Don't forget, i'll already be there
anyway, doesn't it seem a little obvious that, if he didn't do anything, why do they need to rush and change the rules for him? Another frightening chapter in our recent history under the heading "lets change the rules so we can get away with whatever the hell we want"

[heyjupiter678]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

The whole move towards the middle is a waste of time IMO. They need to move back toward the left. So, color me Green.

I mailed in the form last week to switch to Green. I was going to do it in October, but decided to wait because I wasn't sure if changing my voter registration info so close to the election would cause a problem. Right before the election, I started thinking about possibly staying registered as a Democrat, but Kerry giving up before all the votes were counted sealed the deal for me.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by heyjupiter678

I mailed in the form last week to switch to Green. I was going to do it in October, but decided to wait because I wasn't sure if changing my voter registration info so close to the election would cause a problem. Right before the election, I started thinking about possibly staying registered as a Democrat, but Kerry giving up before all the votes were counted sealed the deal for me.

It was heartbreaking. And the Greens are the ones requesting the recounts so...