GIVE BACK THE DIRTY MONEY

Big thanks to Mike at Florida News for the heads up.

Everyone should be aware by now that the heat is on U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R - Texas), even within his own party. During the past year the exterminator-by-trade has been hit by allegations of some really buggy doins':

Nepotism - Since 2001 DeLay's wife and daughter have been paid more than $500,000 by his campaign and political action committees for "fund raising fees", "campaign management", and "payroll"...all with no details as to how they actually EARNED the money. While it's not unusual for officeholders and candidates to hire family members to work in campaign management or on their PACs, in this case the amount was unusually high, and thus raises red flags among advocates for overhaulling election and campaign finance laws.

Violation of House Travel Rules - DeLay and several fellow House Republicans accepted an expense-paid trip to South Korea four years ago by a registered foreign agent, the Korea - U.S. Exchange Council, despite rules clearly prohibiting such practices. In addition, DeLay, his wife, two aides, and two lobbyists made a trip to the UK in mid-2000, organized by the National Center for Public Policy Research but in reality paid for by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and the gambling services company eLottery.

House ethics rules allow lawmakers and their staffs to have travel expenses paid only for officially connected travel and only by organizations directly connected to the trips. The rules also require that lawmakers accurately report the people or organizations that pay for the trips. They prohibit payments by registered lobbyists for lawmakers' travel.

Ties To Lobbyists Under Investigation - That's CRIMINAL investigation!

With all of DeLay's ethics shortcomings --- he's been admonished THREE TIMES in the past year --- at least some of his fellow Republicans are openly questioning his fitness to continue serving as Majority Leader. Frankly, any congressional representative who has accepted money from his PAC should immediately return the gifts, as they could very much be counted as "dirty money". Many of Florida's congressional Republicans have accepted money from AMPAC...from as little as $20.00 (six congresspersons) to Clay Shaw's big receipt of $30,020.

The representatives (with these individuals, that's a contridiction in terms) who are supposed to serve Polk County are all on the high end:

Ginny Brown-Waite - 5th District: $20,000
Adam Putnam - 12th District: $15,000
Dave Weldon - 15th District: $13,569

Lest we forget, Katherine Harris (13th District) accepted $15,000. And, shamed to say, my distant cousin (I've never met him, BTW) Charles "Chip" Pickering, Jr. (R - Mississippi) took $11,565 in the ethically-comprimised money.

The only honourable thing for these folks to do is to return the contributions from AMPAC. You can encourage them to do so by clicking here.