Hammered!

The Hammer Gets Hit, Hard
By Ari Berman, TheNation.com
Posted on September 29, 2005, Printed on September 29, 2005
http://www.alternet.org/story/26153/
The Republican Party's once-copious political capital is quickly eroding. As
we go to press, House majority leader Tom DeLay has just been indicted by a
Texas grand jury on one count of criminal conspiracy in a fast-moving
money-laundering case.

"I have notified the speaker that I will temporarily step aside from my
position as majority leader," DeLay said in a statement following the
stunning final day of the grand jury's term. The Republican Party's go-to
guy, famously nicknamed "The Hammer," finally got whacked.

DeLay's indictment comes on the heels of charges that his top political
aide, Jim Ellis, and veteran fundraiser, John Colyandro, illegally funneled
$190,000 in corporate contributions to candidates for the Texas legislature
in 2002 through the national Republican Party. "The indictment charges DeLay
with conspiring with Ellis and Colyandro to violate the Texas Election Code
by contributing corporate money to certain candidates for the Texas
Legislature," said the statement from DA Ronnie Earle. "It describes a
scheme whereby corporate, or 'soft' money, was sent to the Republican
National Committee where it was exchanged for 'hard' money, or money raised
from individuals, and sent to those candidates." The probe initially focused
on violations of Texas election law but was recently broadened to include
conspiracy charges. DeLay's modus operandi--the ruthless accumulation of
money and favors to benefit corporate interests and far-right
Republicans--may ultimately secure his demise. In essence, he got caught for
doing business as usual.

The indictment sent a shock wave through the GOP establishment, which is
already reeling from a swath of criminal and ethics investigations. Three
individuals, eight corporations and two political action committees
connected to DeLay have been indicted as a result of the probe. In addition,
the government's top procurement official, David Safavian, was arrested in
September for obstructing a criminal investigation into uber-lobbyist Jack
Abramoff, a close DeLay ally. Abramoff himself is under criminal
investigation for defrauding Indian tribes and was indicted for wire fraud
in Florida in a separate case. Top White House aides, including Karl Rove
and Scooter Libby, have been targeted by a special prosecutor investigating
the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. Representative Duke Cunningham
announced he would not run for re-election after overselling his house for
$700,000 to a military industry lobbyist; he too has been indicted. FDA
chief Lester Crawford resigned unexpectedly after just two months on the
job, possibly because of failure to report his wife's sizable
pharmaceutical-industry holdings. And DeLay's Senate counterpart, Bill
Frist, is battling possible insider-trading charges for dumping millions in
HCA stock, a company founded by his father and run by his brother, weeks
before it plunged in value. The US Attorney in Manhattan and the Securities
and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into Frist and HCA in
September.

"The fact that Tom DeLay is under criminal indictment and Senate majority
leader Bill Frist are under criminal investigation is a historic first,"
says Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
(CREW). "This demonstrates the culture of corruption among the Congressional
leadership that has become a cancer on our country."

CREW helped former Representative Chris Bell file an ethics complaint
against DeLay in June 2004, which led to three unprecedented admonishments
by the previously defanged House Ethics Committee: for blackmailing a
lawmaker to support the Medicare "reform" bill, for trading campaign
contributions for legislation and for illegally ordering the Federal
Aviation Administration to track down Texas legislators who protested his
controversial redistricting plan of 2002. That plan, which DeLay rammed down
the throats of the legislature, boosted the GOP House majority. More than a
few conservative Republicans owe their rise to DeLay. Consequently, last
November House Republicans repealed a rule mandating that a member of the
leadership step down if indicted. Fearing backlash from party moderates and
voters, the House leadership quickly reinstated the rule. But old habits die
hard: House majority whip Roy Blunt, recently dubbed one of the thirteen
"most corrupt" members of Congress by CREW, will temporarily replace DeLay.

DeLay's iron-fist ruling style was said to be an integral part of the GOP's
successes. Unprecedented party loyalty, powerful connections to big business
and lobbyists on K Street, fundraising prowess and backing from the White
House and Senate leadership reinforced the perception that DeLay and his
cronies were untouchable. Lawmakers who didn't vote with the leadership were
thrown off committees. Those who didn't meet annual fundraising requirements
were blocked from ascending the party ladder. Lobbyists who didn't identify
as Republicans were told to take their business elsewhere. The arrogance of
power now seems to have come full circle, with DeLay and Frist as prime
examples.

Sixty percent of respondents in a recent Democracy Corps poll say the
country is moving in the wrong direction. A generic Democrat running for
Congress in 2006 beats a generic Republican by 9 percent in polls.
Congress's approval is at an all-time low, and so is Bush's: 45 percent of
respondents in a recent Democracy Corps poll are "finished with him." More
and more Americans will learn about Congressional leaders through the lens
of scandal and sleaze, underscoring the impression that Republicans care
more about special interests than average Americans. "DeLay's name ID spiked
as the scandals grew," says Karl Agne of Democracy Corps. "Now it's up to
Democrats to distance themselves from the mess in Washington and articulate
what they're going to do differently."

Bush promised during the 2000 presidential campaign to "change the culture
of Washington." His Republican majority succeeded--for the worse.


.

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