April 11th, 2005 12:22 PM
[Student op-ed from University of Texas at Austin]
By Phillip Lovegren / The Daily Texan
If you go to Tom DeLay's bedroom and can't find any shady buisness practices, check under the covers.
And if you are surprised that the house majority leader would jump into bed with some of the seediest elements of politics, don't be: The methods that DeLay has used to enrich himself and his party are not out of step with the ethical standards of the modern Republican Party. Rather, they are often essential elements in the Republican rise to power.
DeLay's recent troubles have centered on the allegation, currently being investigated by Travis County D.A. Ronnie Earle, that the House Majority Leader funneled corporate money to Republican candidates for the Texas Legislature. One of Texas' few campaign-finance laws is fairly straightforward: Don't take campaign money for personal use.
But the violation of this law and the subsequent massive cash advantage gained by the Republicans was instrumental in allowing the Republicans to make historic gains and take control of both legislative chambers in 2002.
Couldn't the Democrats have found someone who was equally filthy to tap a similar cash cow? DeLay saw to it that this could not happen. When Republicans took control of the House in 1994, DeLay warned the previously equal-opportunity lobbyists that donating to or hiring Democrats would not be tolerated.
According to Lou Dubose's recent article in Salon, the then-majority whip yanked a key intellectual-property rights bill off of the floor of the House when it was learned that Electronic Industries Alliance had hired a former Democratic Congressman to a lucrative lobbying job. Privately reprimanded by the House Ethics Committee, DeLay nonetheless continued the policy that has given Congressional Republicans a significant cash advantage in the decade since.
All of this is now only the "old stuff," as it has recently been revealed that DeLay has taken more than $200,000 worth in golfing trips to Russia, Korea, England and Scotland, twice from foreign lobbyists, another violation of House Ethics Rules that might help him add to the three reprimands he recently earned. The other money came from casino-rich American Indian tribes, who DeLay later assisted. In addition, DeLay has paid his wife and daughter over $500,000 for political services rendered.
DeLay attempted to show a warmer side by stepping into the Terri Schiavo case, but somehow managed to come out more appalling than ever. After years of railing against "activist judges," DeLay threatened the various judges, who had stubbornly and obstinately refused to buck state and federal law, with retaliation for their actions.
In short, this is precisely why DeLay should remain House Majority Leader. No man better represents the values of the modern Republican Party, both directly and symbolically.
No man better represent the arrogance of power that has seeped into the ruling party in Washington. When the Schiavo case failed to go their way, Senator John Cornyn of Texas pondered aloud whether recent violence against judges had been a result of the fact that judges "are not accountable to the public," while the admittedly more mute White House did a 180-degree turn in their philosophy towards judges who "legislate from the bench."
And when the White House was not sufficiently satisfied about with media coverage, they paid several commentators to promote their policies, sent sham-news packets to TV stations across the country, and allowed a reporter with a fake name and fake news organization to lob softballs at the otherwise overwhelmed president and press secretary.
The lack of respect paid to institutions that play an important role in objectively and separately serving as arbiters of the other branches of government perfectly mirror DeLay's flaunting of his abuse of power.
And the goodies handed out to cash-rich American Indian tribes that contrast to the apathy paid to the majority of devastatingly poor American Indian tribes perfectly reflect the Republican Party's tendency to latch onto the quest for well-being of one prominent individual or group while ignoring the 40 million people without healthcare or the countless number of schoolchildren who go without a proper education.
Tom DeLay should not resign as majority leader. Rarely can one man symbolize the flagrant abuse of power by an entire party. DeLay does, and thus represents his party ably.
Lovegren is a government junior.
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