[darleneann]

(Believe DeLay leaves on Friday.)

GOP Sees Disturbing Reflection in The Mirror
Democrats Fell in '94 After Abuses of Power
By Jim VandeHei and Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, April 9, 2006; A03


The Tom DeLay era is ending much as it began. An entrenched majority, battered by ethical scandals involving its top leaders, is running what many see as a politically polarized and profligate House of Representatives.

What is most remarkable, according to more than a dozen GOP lawmakers and aides, is that it took a little more than a decade for DeLay and House Republicans to succumb to many practices they railed against in the 1990s. From stifling congressional dissent to the raw use of power, they say, Republicans have become like the Democratic barons they ousted in 1994.

Former House majority leader Richard K. Armey (R-Tex.) said that former majority leader DeLay (R-Tex.) was largely to blame for leading Republicans away from their core values. "DeLay, as much as anybody, was responsible for putting the party on the wrong track," Armey said last week. "He always wanted his place in the sun."

Yet many others said the problem was much bigger -- and more complicated -- than the excesses of DeLay. They said it was a general sense of hubris and self-preservation that prompted GOP leaders to gradually abandon the tenets of the 1994 revolution: smaller government, accountability, and a new and cleaner way of doing business in Washington.

"It is a little like a reformed alcoholic taking little drinks -- pretty soon, you have a real problem on your hands," said John S. Czwartacki, who served as a key communications strategist for House Republicans in the 1990s. Czwartacki was talking about the Republicans' embrace of big government spending in particular, but others said the idea applies to the undoing of the entire revolution.

DeLay's career tracks the rise and fall of the Republican Revolution. He was a little-known conservative backbencher in the early 1990s agitating for change. And he was part of a broader movement led by then-Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who sought to take down not only the Democratic Party but also the more moderate and compromise-minded leadership led by Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.).



The parallels between the Democrats that DeLay and Gingrich abhorred 12 years ago and the Republicans of today are striking. In 1994, Democrats who had been the majority for more than four decades were heavily favored to remain so. But the public was discontent with their performance. Polls then showed that about one in three Americans approved of the Democratic-controlled Congress; polls today show that about one in three respondents approve of the Republican-control Congress.

Democrats were increasingly perceived by the public as corrupt and unethical. Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.) had become the first man in that office to resign because of ethics charges, while then-Rep. Tony Coelho (D-Calif.), who pioneered many of the money-for-access techniques DeLay would later adopt, had stepped aside after his financial dealings came under scrutiny. Then the House Bank scandal erupted, and reports that members had routinely kited checks served as a symbol of Democratic abuse.

DeLay, Gingrich and other conservatives mounted a national campaign based on a promise to end corruption and enact a new "Contract With America," which promised institutional restructuring, tax cuts and a reduction in government red tape.

After the Republicans toppled the Democrats that fall by picking up 52 seats in the House, they promised big changes -- and often delivered. With Gingrich as speaker, Armey as majority leader and DeLay as whip, the Republicans instituted a series of reforms aimed at curbing some of the Democrats' worst excesses. They applied federal workplace laws to Congress, so lawmakers had to comply with the same rules as other federal employers, and eliminated proxy voting so members had to actually show up and vote when committees were in session.

GOP leaders abolished bastions of patronage, such as the House mailroom, and eliminated perks including daily ice delivery to House offices. These changes, along with decisions to eliminate 621 committee staff jobs, saved taxpayers $50 million in 1995, according to the House Oversight Committee. The Republicans cut taxes, eliminated many regulatory restrictions on business and took aim -- unsuccessfully -- at eliminating the Departments of Education and Commerce.

But as the Republicans became more entrenched and accustomed to their position of power, leaders shifted their emphasis from reforming government to consolidating their power and self-preservation. "I do think for both parties -- and it has happened for Republicans now -- there is a risk of majority fatigue where you run out of new ideas," said Ari Fleischer, who worked in Congress in the 1990s before becoming White House spokesman. "The other risk is people's zest for reform yields to their desire to maintain power."



Gingrich said the party became too preoccupied with creating and maintaining safe GOP districts as part of an effort to cement a lasting majority. Gingrich, who originally championed the idea, said he now thinks the tactic has had the effect of undermining democracy and distancing House members from their roots.

Democrats "get to rip off the public in the states where they control and protect their incumbents, and we get to rip off the public in the states we control and protect our incumbents, so the public gets ripped off in both circumstances," Gingrich said. "In the long run, there's a downward spiral of isolation."

During their decades in the minority, Republicans lambasted Democrats for excluding them from decision-making in drafting major legislation and denying them the opportunity to amend bills on the floor using arcane House rules.

After having vowed to eliminate the "closed rules" Democrats used to quash GOP ideas, Republicans used the same tactics to stifle debate. During the past Congress -- the 108th -- only 22 percent of legislation was considered with an open rule allowing the minority to offer amendments from the floor, compared with 30 percent under the Democrats' 103rd Congress. When Democrats offered 29 amendments to a medical malpractice bill last Congress, GOP leaders blocked all of them from coming to a vote.

"Here we are fighting for democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we have more and more closed rules here," Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn.) said. "We don't want democracy to flourish on the floor of the House of Representatives."

DeLay and others also grew increasingly focused on campaign fundraising, especially how much others were raising for the party and fellow members. They abolished the seniority system that controlled chairmanships and committee assignments, and replaced it with ideological and financial litmus tests. Those who raised the most money for the party often had the best chance of snaring a top committee assignment.

DeLay "had a tremendous influence making [money] a consideration, and once you have adopted those criteria, other members take note and say 'Gosh, I better do whatever it takes to get the nod for the job,' " Michel said.

The Republicans built a powerful legislative machine that rarely faltered. House Republicans were highly effective at passing legislation, especially tax cuts and measures benefiting businesses. The GOP leaders rarely lost floor votes, and since President Bush took office in 2001, they have shaped and pushed the Republican agenda. But along the way, the core conservative principle of shrinking the size of government was jettisoned, according to some Republican members. During the past six years alone, government spending has increased by more than 25 percent under their watch.



Rep. Mark Edward Souder (R-Ind.) said the party has compromised away its commitment to smaller government. "The moderates went along with us on policy as long as we gave them more money at the end of the year," Souder said. "We got addicted to spending." Souder, who first won office in 1994, said that it is no longer clear what the party stands for.

"This is a campaign where we're each fighting on our own, hoping we can survive with a bare majority," Souder said. "Even if we had a unified vision, I don't know exactly what our vision would be."

Of all of the examples of backsliding, it is the ethical ones that Republicans fear could hurt them most in the fall election. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) recently resigned after pleading guilty to taking bribes. Last week, DeLay announced he will resign from Congress this spring, just as the investigation of his former top aides in money-for-favors scandals is heating up. Many members said they expect at least one more GOP member to be indicted this year. A new AP poll shows 60 percent of Republicans now disapprove of the Republican Congress.

"If it's about your power, you lose," Armey said, quoting one of his own favorite axioms. "If it's about you, you lose."

[Ben Dover]

Yet many others said the problem was much bigger -- and more complicated -- than the excesses of DeLay. They said it was a general sense of hubris and self-preservation that prompted GOP leaders to gradually abandon the tenets of the 1994 revolution: smaller government, accountability, and a new and cleaner way of doing business in Washington.

How sad! Can't tell you how many emails I sent to my reps. telling them they are blowing it and going against all the good things they used to stand for.

[usedmeat]

As usual the WaHoPo plays the equivalency game, just as they did when they lied about Democrats recieving money from Jack Abramoff. In no way do the Democrats, and that includes disgraced William Jefferson (D-LA), ethicial problems rise to the severity of the current republican scandals.

Below is a case in point from TPM Muckraker:

Somewhat mysteriously, a 2002 Justice Department report that warned of the national security risk posed by the weak immigration standards in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands never saw the light of day.

And as Bloomberg reported last October, the two officials who completed the report were reassigned - and Members of Congress never saw it.

Probably not coincidentally, Jack Abramoff was representing the Marianas at the time.

Well, now that Abramoff is spending his long days cooperating with Justice Department prosecutors, the report has finally been released. You can read it here.

It's no mystery why Abramoff would have wanted the report suppressed: his job was to keep the federal government's hands off the islands -- even, he apparently believed, at the cost of his country's safety. And the report is unequivocal in its recommendation that the U.S. should have its hands very much on the islands, which the authors deemed a national security risk.

Rep. George Miller (D-CA), who was Abramoff's great enemy on the Marianas for many years, released the report today. He's taken the occasion of DeLay's retirement to reintroduce legislation to reform labor and immigration laws on the Marianas - legislation DeLay and Abramoff were able to foil for a decade.

<A href="http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000845.php">Permalink | TOPICS: Jack Abramoff: Tom DeLay

This is not the first instance where republican malfeasance has put the nation at risk. And this is why the Monkey had to trot out gay marriage.

[jpmartin59]

How sad! Can't tell you how many emails I sent to my reps. telling them they are blowing it and going against all the good things they used to stand for.

I thought that the article was really right on. However, it should have continued on and mentioned the sheer evil of the two other players in this hideous administration who impacted the country : Cheney and Rove. May they burn in hell!

[Bober40]

I thought that the article was really right on. However, it should have continued on and mentioned the sheer evil of the two other players in this hideous administration who impacted the country : Cheney and Rove. May they burn in hell!

Speaking of evil.
Bush and the corrupt leaders in Washington, both dems and rethugs, are selling this country out from under the feet of every American.
Mexico will own most of this country in 25 years without every having fired a shot to win it.
Where do we turn to stop this madness??
Who will isten??
To date over 65% of Americans think we should make them all go home and take there families with them, not to mention we need to build a huge buil wall. but.... NO ONE I.... MEAN NO ONE WILL LISTEN!!!!!!!!!.
WE MUST CLEAN HOUSE IN WASHINGTON!!!!!!!!!!!!

Write to your reps and tell them to stop this madness now, tell them to send the illegal mexicans home now.... and keep them there until they learn to speak read and write english and can come here legally. And don't forget to tell them to impose hefty fines on American employers who hire these illegals as well. LET THEM HERE YOUR VOICE ! LET THEM KNOW WE WON'T TAKE IT ANY MORE!http://www.congress....cials/congress/

Bush Urges Immigrant Assimilation In Heartland
http://www.wgal.com/...961/detail.html

This post has been edited by Bober40: 07 June 2006 - 11:55 PM

[darleneann]

(Way to go, usedmeat. Just "funnin' " with ya.)

[AugustChillLancaster]

How sad! Can't tell you how many emails I sent to my reps. telling them they are blowing it and going against all the good things they used to stand for.

They are true politicians. Their stand for what is good and right is only temporary, just long enough to get elected......

[justaposter]

As usual the WaHoPo plays the equivalency game, just as they did when they lied about Democrats recieving money from Jack Abramoff. In no way do the Democrats, and that includes disgraced William Jefferson (D-LA), ethicial problems rise to the severity of the current republican scandals.

Last i check there are 15 republicans in congress and from the administration either under investigation in prison or indited. Problems rangeing from obstrution of justice (to hide outting a cia agent) on down to insider tradeing and bribery.

Democrats are at less than 5 from bribery to slapping a cop. Jefferson being the main one that for some reason hasnt been charged considering they say they have him on audio and video.

Clearly the republicans hold the title for the culture of corruption these days. Add that to the Casino Jack upcoming cases and the recent Jerry Lewis(CA-R) ethical problems coming out it runs the gambit from the oval office on down to local republicans blocking get out the vote calls.

This post has been edited by justaposter: 12 June 2006 - 06:13 AM

[harryorwell]

Maybe Delay can follow in the footsteps of our own Bub Walker.
Bub spent 20 years in congress whining about government waste and the taxpayers he was paid to represent got nothing.
Now good ol' Bub is a lobbyist for a liberal company getting paid big bucks to make sure our tax dollars get wasted on his clients.
Government waste ain't so bad after all, eh Bub, you ol' hypoctrite.
I always said Bub Walker was a joke.
Now he is laffing all the way to the bank.
At least he ditched the combover.

[Whirlwind]

The real policy makers behind this repub administration are neocons. Which means them and the vices brought with them have given the impression the repubs are just as guilty as demos. Now that they have secured extreme powers for the executive branch, they will go back to being demos, just as the country is getting fed up with anything repub. Coincidence? What they have in mind for those executive powers should be worrisome.