In Nation's Capital, Speculation About DeLay's Tipping Point

[struggle4progress]

<snip> In Texas, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is leading an investigation that has secured grand jury indictments of three DeLay political associates on charges of campaign finance violations. If Earle, a Democrat, charges DeLay, House rules would force him to step down as majority leader.

DeLay was admonished by the Ethics Committee three times last year, and more recently has been hit by new questions about his finances, his overseas travel and his political alliance with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is under investigation by the Justice Department and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee for work he did for Indian tribes.

This week, The Washington Post reported that DeLay's 1997 trip to Moscow with four staff members, at a cost of $57,238, was financed by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government. The same day, The New York Times reported that DeLay's wife and daughter had been paid more than $500,000 since 2001 by DeLay's political campaign committees. <snip>

Norman Ornstein, an analyst at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said DeLay should have passed the tipping point, but hasn't because "Republicans and conservatives are so invested in this guy." <snip>

http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/benson040805.html

[AndyTiedye]

1. Will People Finally Notice that Tom Delay Is Really a Giant Maggot?

(with apologies to Franz Kafka)

[Les BOOGIE]

2. with apologies to maggots, giant and otherwise n/t