Subject: Dump DeLay - (use this one)

From: "TrueMajority" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 11:39:55 -0700

Tom DeLay's Corruption Disqualifies Him from Leadership

Help His Colleagues Choose Decency over DeLay

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NOTE:  We messed up.  The earlier version of this alert sent out first thing Monday morning contained a techno glitch.  If you took that action, please again click Reply and Send and we'll deliver your free message to Congress.  If you're seeing this for the first time, please just read this alert.

Lots of people this weekend blamed their lameness on the change to Daylight Savings Time, but I just plain forgot to click a box in creating this alert.

Dave Britton 
Remorseful Geek    
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Dear David,

The U.S. Congress is perhaps the most potent image of representative democracy in the world. Yes, sometimes its members fail to act wisely, and sometimes they don't live up to our ideals. Still, those two chambers filled with delegates of the people are the heart of what our country is about.
 
 House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom DeLay has dishonored the people's house. His pattern of unethical and illegal behavior is an offense to democracy itself, and he must step down from his leadership post.

Ask your Representative to stand up against Tom DeLay's abuses. Just click "Reply" and "Send" if you're a TrueMajority member, and we'll forward that message to your Representative (text below). If you aren't a member, or this was forwarded to you, click here to send the message.

 http://truemajority.kintera.org/dumpdelay 
 
 Although he's a leader of the body that creates rules for the rest of us, Tom DeLay is so flagrantly unethical his own party members have condemned him three times. He's taken illegal gifts from foreign lobbyists.[1] He's admitted to bribing another member for his vote.[2] He may yet be criminally indicted for using illegal corporate money for campaigns.[3] He even tried to have Congress' own rules changed so that, if indicted, he could hold on to his powerful leadership position. (Congress chose to stand up to him on that one.)

Is this the person who should lead the majority in the greatest democratic legislature in the world?
 
 Let's challenge our representatives to ask Tom DeLay to step down as House Majority leader.  The challenge boils down to this:  Does your member of Congress stand with Decency, or DeLay?
 
 TrueMajority members, click "reply" and "send"; if you're not yet a member click here to send your message to Congress.  http://truemajority.kintera.org/dumpdelay 

Yours in working toward a government worthy of America,

Matt Holland
Online Organizer
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Here's the message we'll send to your representative in Congress:

Dear (We'll insert your representative's name here),

Americans are embarrassed and offended by the behavior of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Your own colleagues have repeatedly said his actions are unethical, and his twisting of the democratic process is a matter of public record.

I don't think that Tom DeLay is ethically fit to serve as House majority leader  -  do you?

When members of Congress have spoken out in the past, corrupt leaders have been forced to step down. The time has come to take a side, so I am asking today: do you stand for Decency, or do you stand behind Tom DeLay?

  Sincerely,

(We'll put your name here)

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References:

 [1] A Foreign Agent Paid for a Luxury Trip to South Korea for DeLay and his wife. The trip was paid for by the Korea-US Exchange Council. The group registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and was created with help from a lobbying firm headed by DeLay's former chief of staff. The cost to send DeLay, his wife and other lawmakers for three days was $106,921. (Washington Post, 3/10/05)
 
 [2] The House ethics committee found that DeLay offered to help former Congressman Nick Smith's son Brad, who was running for Congress at the time, in exchange for Smith's vote on the Medicare prescription drug bill. The House Ethics Committee gave DeLay a public admonishment. Smith originally claimed that DeLay mentioned $100,000 in contributions, but later stated that no specific figure was mentioned. (Roll Call, 11/22/04)

[3] "DeLay Ethics Allegations Now Cause of GOP Concern", Washington Post,
March 14, 2005. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32389-2005Mar13.html

(These stories, summarized at AlterNet, are only a few of the many cases of DeLay's ethical lapses reported in the press. Here are more:)

DeLay Received Campaign Contributions from Executives at Westar Energy, to Give the Company "a Seat at the Table" at Energy Bill Negotiations. The House Ethics Committee admonished DeLay for his dealings with top officers of Westar Energy. Some of the officers wrote memos citing their belief that $56,500 in campaign contributions to political committees associated with DeLay and other Republicans would get them "a seat at the table" where key legislation was being drafted. (Washington Post, 10/7/04)

DeLay Used a Federal Agency for Partisan Politics, an action prohibited by House Standards of Official Conduct. On May 12, 2003 DeLay's office asked the FAA for assistance in locating an aircraft carrying Texas state legislators. (Summary of Complaint Against Rep. Tom DeLay Filed By Chris Bell, 6/8/04) The House Ethics Committee admonished DeLay, stating, "Your intervention in a partisan conflict in the Texas House of Representatives ... raises serious concerns under House standards ... that preclude use of government resources for a political undertaking." (National Journal Congress Daily, 10/7/04)

DeLay Associates Charged with Illegal Money Laundering. Three of DeLay's top political associates were indicted by a Texas grand jury on charges of illegally raising money from corporations and funneling the funds into the campaigns of GOP candidates for the Texas Legislature (CQ Today, 3/11/05).

DeLay Allegedly Used $190,000 in Illegal Corporate Contributions to Influence Elections. According to a complaint filed by former Congressman Chris Bell (D-Tex.), a state PAC managed by DeLay aide Jim Ellis, contributed $190,000 in illegal corporate funds to the RNC. (Summary of Complaint Against Rep. Tom DeLay Filed By Chris Bell, 6/8/04).

The GOP Leadership Stacked the House Ethics Committee with Members Sympathetic to DeLay. Ethics committee Chairman, Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.), was replaced by Rep. Richard Hastings (R-Wash.), a trusted ally of House Speaker Dennis Hastert. The other new Republicans on the panel, Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) and Tom Cole (R-Okla.), each gave DeLay $5,000 for his legal defense fund. These new committee members can be trusted to view DeLay's behavior in a more charitable light. (Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 2/7/05; Houston Chronicle, 2/7/05)

Two months after Gambling Interests Paid for DeLay's Luxury Trip to Europe, He Helped Kill a Bill that the Funders of his London Junket Opposed. The cost of the trip totaled $4,285.35. The payment was funneled through lobbyist Jack Abramoff. (Washington Post, 3/1/05) Abramoff suggested the trip and then arranged for checks to be sent by two of his clients, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and eLottery Inc. Two months after the trip, DeLay helped kill the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, which would have made it a federal crime to place certain bets over the Internet and was opposed by eLottery and the Choctaws. (Washington Post, 3/12/05)

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