In a nest of vipers Tom DeLay is the fat snake who eats its young for no other reason than it can.

New York Times
February 10, 2004
The Ethics Panel Stirs

The House ethics committee, one of Washington's more rubber-toothed watchdogs, will soon hold its first meeting in four months, with Republicans explaining that there simply hasn't been much to talk about. That's true only if you ignore two major ethics issues that have cropped up in those months. But it's not all that surprising that the committee is reluctant to deal with them because one involves last year's biggest piece of legislation and the other one of the most powerful members of Congress.

The committee should fully investigate allegations of attempted bribes and intimidation made by Representative Nick Smith, Republican of Michigan, after the infamous long-count vote last November on the Medicare bill. The second item on the committee's agenda, harder but more important, should be the seamy scheme by the Republican majority leader, Tom DeLay, to exploit a tax-exempt charitable foundation to underwrite his entertaining, fund-raising and political galas at the G.O.P. convention this summer.

Mr. DeLay, of course, was part of the leadership that bent House standards to keep the 15-minute voting period on the Medicare bill open for almost three hours while members were being frantically whipped into line. Representative Smith, a holdout furious at the arm-twisting, dared to complain publicly that "bribes and special deals" had been offered, including "$100,000-plus" for the campaign of his son, Brad, who is running to succeed his father, who is retiring. Representative Smith later retreated as calls were heard for a criminal investigation. He insisted that it was "technically incorrect" to specify bribes. Rather, he said, an offer of "substantial and aggressive campaign support" for his son had come from unidentified colleagues.

Mr. DeLay is raising money for his charity, Celebrations for Children, which is supposed to help abused and neglected children but operates more like Mr. DeLay's personal political fund.

A brochure says the organization's "marquee event" for 2004 will be the Republican National Convention in New York. Promised events include a "luxury suite" where wealthy favor-seekers can mingle with congressmen, senators and high-ranking staff members, a golf tournament at Bethpage Black Course, private receptions, dinners, yacht cruises, tickets to Broadway shows "and more."

The furor over the Medicare vote has at least penetrated the hibernation of the ethics panel, prompting an "informal fact-finding." The panel has a responsibility to surprise the nation, and certainly the House, by producing a thorough accounting of what truly happened. Likewise, the committee cannot honorably ignore Mr. DeLay's misuse of a charity to underwrite his own personal and political agenda. A real ethics watchdog would retain an independent counsel to investigate Mr. DeLay's circumventions, and warn members away from the partying and politicking he has planned in the name of helping children.




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