`E-Mail` from DCCC

From: "Jesse Lee, DCCC" http://blog.dccc.org/mt/

Subject: DCCC @Stake - A Bad Week in Texas for the GOP
Date: 03 Mar 2005 07:17:07 PST


A Bad Week in Texas for the GOP

March 3, 2005



• DeLay's Texas PAC Scandal: Trials (and Tribulations) Begin
• Jack Abramoff: "Director of Travel for DeLay Inc."
• Town Halls "Hit a Wall" In Bush & DeLay's Back Yard
• "Houston Miracle" Comes Home to Roost
• News From the Blog



DeLay's Texas PAC Scandal: Trials (and Tribulations) Begin


In a preview of what's to come, DeLay's PAC in Texas has been involved in a civil suit brought by several Democratic Texas House candidates from 2002. You'll recall that DeLay's PAC, known as Texans for a Republican Majority, or TRMPAC, was responsible for funneling massive amounts of corporate money to Republicans running for the Texas legislature, allowing the Republicans to take the majority there. To repay DeLay's largesse, the Texas Republicans then promptly crammed through an absurdly drawn `re-redistricting` map to effectively disenfranchise millions of black and Hispanic voters in order to ensure gains in the US Congress in 2004. Of course, the little problem is that the use of the corporate money that set all of this in motion has been illegal in Texas for 100 years. Three of DeLay's aides have already been indicted, but this civil suit is a separate matter that is at the very least bringing the essence of the case to light.

For an `in-depth` summary of the criminal case (and DeLay's pivotal role), click here, but for this week we'll focus on the first few days of the civil trial. The suit is being brought against TRMPAC Treasurer Bill Ceverha, who like just about everybody else involved (including DeLay) claims to have simply been "`out-of`-`the-loop`." The broader defense is that a loophole in the law allowing corporate money to be spent on "administrative expenses" or "overhead" can be used to apply to essentially anything the Republicans want it to, despite the universal interpretation that it is limited things like light and heating bills.

Day One. Knight Ridder:

"Another memo tells potential donors that 'unlike other organizations, your corporate contributions to TRMPAC will be put to good use.'

"It says the money won't be 'just paying for overhead' but would instead be used to increase the group's 'level of engagement in the political arena.'

"Feldman, the Democrats' attorney, said the documents show 'almost a preference' for corporate money and he called the TRMPAC sales pitch an 'admission' that the Republicans knew their use of corporate money went beyond allowed administrative uses."
Day Two. Associated Press:

"A political committee created to elect Republicans to the Texas House was a highly sophisticated organization that did not report some expenditures as required by state law, a campaign finance expert testified Tuesday.

"Texans for a Republican Majority, formed by Republican U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, should have reported some $600,000 in expenditures on state disclosure forms, Trevor Potter testified.

"Some of the money was spent for political consultants, printing for mailouts and other items that five Democratic plaintiffs claim were political expenses. Potter, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, agreed.

"'They're all reportable, and corporate money can't be used for those expenses,' Potter said."
Trevor Potter, by the way, is no Democratic hack, but rather a lifelong Republican who has advised George H. W. Bush and John McCain, and a former commissioner and chair of the Federal Election Commission. But he was still not the star witness Tuesday, as Bill Hammond, the head of the Texas Association of Business - another PAC accused of coordinating with TRMPAC - took the stand. It did not go well for him:

"The head of Texas' largest lobbying group on Tuesday acknowledged coordinating with a GOP political action committee to help Texas Republicans get elected to the House in 2002.

"The testimony by Texas Association of Business President Bill Hammond was touted as a major victory by attorneys in a civil trial suing the treasurer of the Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee, or TRMPAC, for allegedly spending corporate dollars to influence House races in 2002 - in violation of Texas campaign finance laws.

"'It's our position that it's illegal coordination,' said Joe Cruz, a lawyer for five Democrats who lost their races for House seats in 2002, citing federal case law."
This trial is still going, but it is expected to wrap up by next week. We'll have the latest then...



Jack Abramoff: "Director of Travel for DeLay Inc."


Regular readers of @Stake know well the saga of lobbyist and DeLay crony Jack Abramoff, whose swindling of several Indian tribes (with the help of another DeLay protégé) has earned him the nickname "Casino Jack." The basic plot is this: Abramoff ingratiated himself with the Indian tribes, promising to utilize his extensive Republican connections to make all their wishes come true. But even as he was promising to keep their casinos open, he was secretly funneling millions in fees to GOP Golden Boy moralizer Ralph Reed - who used the money to mount a phony grassroots campaign (known as Astroturf) to get those very casinos shut down. All the while, he and his cohorts sent each other giddy emails referring to their clients as "monkeys" and "troglodytes." Senator John McCain, who is now Chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, has commented that, "Money is washing up all over the place... This thing has tentacles that reach everywhere," and indeed the scandal has already ensnared Republican Rep. Bob Ney, powerful chairman of the House Administration Committee. But this week brought two more startling revelations in a case that has only begun to break loose. The first was from National Journal, the universally read `inside-the`-Beltway publication, which detailed the extensive and ethically dubious relationship between Abramoff and DeLay:

"Some of Abramoff's clients and at least one conservative ally also helped underwrite trips taken by DeLay, as well as by some key staffers who later became lobbyists and in three cases worked with Abramoff. 'To the casual observer, it was a pretty simple deal,' recalls one former GOP House leadership aide. 'Jack raised money for the pet projects of DeLay and took care of his top staff. In turn, they granted him tremendous access and allowed him to freely trade on DeLay's name.'"
This description is particularly interesting since as soon as the scandal broke, DeLay blustered, "What I can tell you is that if anybody is trading on my name to get clients or to make money, that is wrong and they should stop it immediately." Being that there is a Justice Department probe ongoing, it would appear that DeLay may have just lost a crucial defense. But that's still not the end of it. The article goes on to report on years of junket trips abroad organized for DeLay by Abramoff, almost all paid for by companies that soon got their legislative desires met to perfection. But one particular junket raised quite few eyebrows:

"In at least one instance, on a trip to England and Scotland in `mid-2000`, congressional gift rules may have been violated; Abramoff apparently filed a report with his law firm showing he picked up some of DeLay's expenses. The trip's sponsor was the National Center for Public Policy Research, a `little-known` conservative think tank on whose board Abramoff served until several months ago... Under House gift rules, a member, officer, or employee may not accept travel expenses from a registered lobbyist, agent of a foreign principal, or a lobbying firm. The rule stipulates that the prohibition applies even when the lobbyist, agent, or firm is later reimbursed for those expenses by a `non-lobbyist` client. 'It's clear from House rules that while a member may accept reimbursement for travel from certain sources, they may not receive travel expenses from a registered lobbyist, agent of a foreign principal, or a lobbying firm,' said Stan Brand, a former House counsel and a partner at the law firm Brand & Frulla. 'It certainly appears from Abramoff's expense voucher that House ethics rules were violated by a lobbyist having paid for lodging expenses of Representative DeLay and his chief of staff,' said Fred Wertheimer, the president of Democracy 21, who added that the apparent violation was another reason for the House Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics) Committee to investigate whether Abramoff did financial favors for members and staffers."
It will not take long to find out whether the Republicans have successfully neutered the ethics committee. Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi quickly demanded an investigation:

"These are substantive allegations that must be added to the `ever-growing` DeLayGate scandal and fully investigated by the Ethics Committee. The House gift rule clearly states that lobbyists cannot pay a Member's travel expenses, but the expense voucher submitted by lobbyist Jack Abramoff indicates that this is precisely what he did for Mr. DeLay.

"It is imperative that the Ethics Committee live up to its mission and conduct a timely, thorough, and honest inquiry into all of Mr. DeLay's alleged ethical lapses."
But of course if that were the end of the revelations, it would still be a slow week in corruption for Tom DeLay. So allow us to introduce you to the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, which, apropos of its name, seems to only marginally exist:

"Tracking what happened to $175,000 contributed by two Indian tribes to a political group called CREA leads from a disgraced lobbyist to an elusive environmental organization spawned by Gale Norton before she became secretary of the Interior.

"The money, which the tribes say they contributed to the group at the direction of a Washington, D.C., lobbyist now under federal investigation, is unaccounted for in public records where federal regulations say it should be listed.

"The absence of an accounting adds another layer to the mystery of what became of more than two dozen contributions missing among $300,000 in checks issued by a Texas tribe to 79 political committees selected by lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

"CREA stands for Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy. According to its filings with the Internal Revenue Service as a `tax-exempt` organization, it has operated for more than four years without receiving any contributions or making any expenditures.

"The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana said it issued checks for $50,000 to CREA in 2001 and $100,000 in 2002."
"Tentacles that reach everywhere..."

Incidentally, the smear group that recently set the new standard for political slime in their attack on the AARP has held one Jack Abramoff on their board. Not really surprised, are you?


Town Halls "Hit a Wall" In Bush & DeLay's Backyard

"Before his trip, Bush said his proposal was 'going nowhere' if Congress did not buy into his belief that the system is in crisis. Judging by reports of public meetings held across the country during the House and Senate recess last week, the plan seems to be going nowhere fast."
-- Cragg Hines, columnist for the Houston Chronicle, Tom DeLay's hometown paper
Indeed, as we noted on our blog towards the end of last week, a round up of Republican town halls across the country was not a pretty picture. But there was no need for Hines to look far from his own backyard, as an article in the same paper makes clear:

GOP HITS WALL SELLING SOCIAL SECURITY PLAN
Lawmakers press on though pitches at home often encounter a chilly reception

The red paper Valentine's Day cupids still were taped to the walls of the community room at the Copperwood senior housing center in The Woodlands, but it was hardly a lovefest when U.S. Rep Kevin Brady dropped by last week to discuss Social Security reform.

Brady, a Republican from The Woodlands who sits on the House Social Security subcommittee, expected a friendly crowd at Copperwood, a stop he chose because the `90-year`-old mother of one of his aides lives there.

But between riled seniors and a couple of Democratic activists, Brady did not get a free pass. Instead, he faced the concerns of people like Social Security beneficiary Mary Kosmitis.

"Everything (the Bush administration) has done is just not exactly what they said they were doing," she said after the gathering.

Last week's congressional recess was intended to be a big chance for GOP lawmakers to push the president's plan in their home districts. Instead, it found Brady and his compatriots here and across the country often encountering chilly skepticism to President Bush's ideas on remodeling the strained benefit program for elders. They found that the opposition was often surprisingly organized and `hoped-for` support did not always materialize.

The tension could be daunting for some lawmakers. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, `R-Sugar` Land, said only about a third of House Republicans nationwide conducted meetings on Social Security.

"I am very disappointed about that," said DeLay, who held two town hall meetings on the issue last week.
Still, it could have been worse. It could have been Indiana, where at least two vulnerable Republicans got ravaged:

"As for Bush's main proposal -- allowing younger workers to divert some of their Social Security taxes into personal investment accounts -- the applause came when Camden resident Pete Wagoner told Chocola: 'It's the entirely wrong way to go.'"
And so it was not such a surprise to see this in Sunday's Washington Post:

"President Bush is still in the opening phase of a campaign to sell the public and Congress on his ambitious plans for Social Security, but some Republicans on Capitol Hill have decided it is not too early to begin pondering an exit strategy."


"Houston Miracle" Comes Home to Roost

Before President Bush touted himself as the "war time" president, he touted himself as the "education president." The main basis for the `self-congratulation` was the `so-called` "Houston Miracle," referring to the startling improvement in dropout rates under Houston School Superintendent Rod Paige - who was then promoted to Secretary of Education where he would refer to one of the nation's largest teachers' associations as "terrorists."

In the furious pace of the election battle, this whistleblower, reported on by CBS News, was barely noticed:

"I was shocked. I said, 'How can that be,' says Robert Kimball, an assistant principal at Sharpstown High School, on Houston's West Side. His school claimed that no students - not a single one - had dropped out in `2001-2002`.

"But that's not what Kimball saw: 'I had been at the high school for three years, and I had seen many, many students, several hundred a year, go out the door. And I knew that they were quitting. They told me they were quitting.'

[...]

"All in all, 463 kids left Sharpstown High School that year, for a variety of reasons. The school reported zero dropouts, but dozens of the students did just that. School officials hid that fact by classifying, or coding, them as leaving for acceptable reasons: transferring to another school, or returning to their native country.

"'That's how you get to zero dropouts. By assigning codes that say, 'Well, this student, you know, went to another school. He did this or that.' And basically, all 463 students disappeared. And the school reported zero dropouts for the year,' says Kimball. 'They were not counted as dropouts, so the school had an outstanding record.'"
This week, however, the "Houston Miracle," having already gone national through the underfunded No Child Left Behind bill, came back home to roost. Again from DeLay's hometown paper, the Houston Chronicle:

"Faced with the prospect of tagging nearly half of the state's school districts with failing grades under the federal accountability system, Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley instead changed the rules to reduce the number of failing schools sixfold.

"The move, described by some as a direct challenge to the U.S. Department of Education's enforcement of the controversial No Child Left Behind Act, sets up a potential showdown between Neeley and the Bush administration.

"National education observers said Neeley's move makes Texas the first state to outright refuse to follow the law's requirements."
Probably not the best time to talk about expanding No Child Left Behind into highschools...


News From the Blog

Ginny, Ginny
Republican Ginny `Brown-Waite`, the Rep. With the highest number of Social Security beneficiaries in the country, gets the DCCC treatment.

More Propaganda?
Democratic Rep. George Miller demands to know if fakes news reports continued after the GAO deemed them illegal.

The Hoyer List Grows...
Democratic Whip Hoyer finds more Republicans running from privatization.

A Message From Ken
Even an RNC email to supporters runs from privatization.

Pelosi, Waxman: SSA Politicized
A new report documents the injection of Bush agenda into the Social Security Administration.





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"Syria is the problem. Syria is where those weapons of mass destruction are, in my view. You know, I can fly an `F-15`, put two nukes on 'em and I'll make one pass. We won't have to worry about Syria anymore."
-- Rep. Sam Johnson (`R-TX`)

"Will Social Security be there for you? Absolutely."
-- Beginning of 2000 version of public primer on Social Security from SSA

"Social Security must change to meet future challenges."
-- Beginning of 2004 version of public primer on Social Security from SSA