ScreamingEagle
Gold Member
- Jul 5, 2004
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http://www.dcexaminer.com/articles/2005/04/14/opinion/op-ed/22oped13lessner.txt
It has become increasingly clear in recent days that the hysterical Democratic attacks on House Majority Leader Tom DeLay are part of a coordinated effort to strike down conservative leaders in and out of Congress. The left's campaign also is designed to whip up the liberal base and raise funds for the same "outside" organizations that attacked President Bush and Republican candidates last year. Many of these groups are lavishly funded by international financier George Soros.
The feverish attempts to demonize Tom DeLay are nothing new. In the months leading up to the 2000 election, the Democrats filed a bogus racketeering lawsuit against him, which was ultimately dismissed with prejudice by a federal judge. Last summer, Democrats again attacked Tom DeLay with bogus allegations the House Ethics Committee quickly dismissed (deferring another matter at DeLay's request.) The Democrats have no message and no vision for America. So they attack Republican leaders in a desperate attempt to block progress on the GOP agenda - lower taxes, a modernized Social Security system, constitutionalist judges and a strong military.
Many of the recent news "scoops" that have been running on the front pages of major newspapers are little more than rehashed accusations that have appeared elsewhere. Despite sensational headlines and hyper-inflated allegations, these stories fail utterly to provide evidence of any wrongdoing by Tom DeLay.
Example 1: Last week's story in The New York Times breathlessly reported that DeLay had employed family members to work on his campaigns and for his political action committee. This story was so old it had whiskers. It was first reported in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call in 2003.
Other news outlets dutifully followed the Times and created the impression that DeLay had put family members on the public payroll. In fact, no taxpayer money was involved. Nor was it in any way illegal or unethical for DeLay's privately funded PAC to employ his wife and daughter. The Times reported that DeLay's PAC paid his wife and daughter $500,000. This is only $50,000 a year each for the past five years, a solidly middle-class income and certainly a lot less than the editors at The New York Times earn.
Example 2: The Washington Post recently published a page-one "expose" about the financing of a 1997 trip to Russia. ...Every year, dozens of members of Congress and staff participate in such trips financed by nonprofit organizations. This is perfectly legal, normal and even routine.
Example 3: The Post published a story alleging impropriety in Tom DeLay's traveling to Korea under the auspices of a group that was a registered foreign agent. The fact is that the group was registered as representing a foreign interest only after the trip was arranged and approved by the House Ethics Committee. DeLay had no prior knowledge of this development.
Soros, who never tires of losing and throwing good money after bad, has spent $3 million on the so-called "Ethics Coalition," a collection of leftist interest groups that exist solely to smear Republicans and create the atmospherics of scandal surrounding the GOP Congress in general and Tom DeLay in particular. The "Ethics Coalition" consists of Democracy 21, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Common Cause, Public Citizen, Public Campaign, Center for Responsive Politics, and the Campaign Legal center. Most of these are subsidized by Soros for the purpose of attacking Republicans. While these organizations purport to be non-partisan watchdogs, in fact they almost never target ethical abuses by Democrats.
The Democrats never will forgive Tom DeLay for his efforts in redrawing congressional districts in Texas that cost them six seats in the House (which incidentally undid past Democratic gerrymandering and brought Texas' delegation into line with the overwhelming majority of voters in the Lone Star State). Democrats despise DeLay because he is a tough, principled conservative and an effective majority leader who is successful in driving the Republican agenda though the House. Unable to win elections, and bereft of anything positive to offer the country, the Democrats and their Soros-funded allies have become little more than a pack of seething scandalmongers.
It has become increasingly clear in recent days that the hysterical Democratic attacks on House Majority Leader Tom DeLay are part of a coordinated effort to strike down conservative leaders in and out of Congress. The left's campaign also is designed to whip up the liberal base and raise funds for the same "outside" organizations that attacked President Bush and Republican candidates last year. Many of these groups are lavishly funded by international financier George Soros.
The feverish attempts to demonize Tom DeLay are nothing new. In the months leading up to the 2000 election, the Democrats filed a bogus racketeering lawsuit against him, which was ultimately dismissed with prejudice by a federal judge. Last summer, Democrats again attacked Tom DeLay with bogus allegations the House Ethics Committee quickly dismissed (deferring another matter at DeLay's request.) The Democrats have no message and no vision for America. So they attack Republican leaders in a desperate attempt to block progress on the GOP agenda - lower taxes, a modernized Social Security system, constitutionalist judges and a strong military.
Many of the recent news "scoops" that have been running on the front pages of major newspapers are little more than rehashed accusations that have appeared elsewhere. Despite sensational headlines and hyper-inflated allegations, these stories fail utterly to provide evidence of any wrongdoing by Tom DeLay.
Example 1: Last week's story in The New York Times breathlessly reported that DeLay had employed family members to work on his campaigns and for his political action committee. This story was so old it had whiskers. It was first reported in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call in 2003.
Other news outlets dutifully followed the Times and created the impression that DeLay had put family members on the public payroll. In fact, no taxpayer money was involved. Nor was it in any way illegal or unethical for DeLay's privately funded PAC to employ his wife and daughter. The Times reported that DeLay's PAC paid his wife and daughter $500,000. This is only $50,000 a year each for the past five years, a solidly middle-class income and certainly a lot less than the editors at The New York Times earn.
Example 2: The Washington Post recently published a page-one "expose" about the financing of a 1997 trip to Russia. ...Every year, dozens of members of Congress and staff participate in such trips financed by nonprofit organizations. This is perfectly legal, normal and even routine.
Example 3: The Post published a story alleging impropriety in Tom DeLay's traveling to Korea under the auspices of a group that was a registered foreign agent. The fact is that the group was registered as representing a foreign interest only after the trip was arranged and approved by the House Ethics Committee. DeLay had no prior knowledge of this development.
Soros, who never tires of losing and throwing good money after bad, has spent $3 million on the so-called "Ethics Coalition," a collection of leftist interest groups that exist solely to smear Republicans and create the atmospherics of scandal surrounding the GOP Congress in general and Tom DeLay in particular. The "Ethics Coalition" consists of Democracy 21, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Common Cause, Public Citizen, Public Campaign, Center for Responsive Politics, and the Campaign Legal center. Most of these are subsidized by Soros for the purpose of attacking Republicans. While these organizations purport to be non-partisan watchdogs, in fact they almost never target ethical abuses by Democrats.
The Democrats never will forgive Tom DeLay for his efforts in redrawing congressional districts in Texas that cost them six seats in the House (which incidentally undid past Democratic gerrymandering and brought Texas' delegation into line with the overwhelming majority of voters in the Lone Star State). Democrats despise DeLay because he is a tough, principled conservative and an effective majority leader who is successful in driving the Republican agenda though the House. Unable to win elections, and bereft of anything positive to offer the country, the Democrats and their Soros-funded allies have become little more than a pack of seething scandalmongers.
