Over at the new Inside the Beltway newspaper Politico’s website, former House Majority Leader  Tom "The Hammer" DeLay  (pictured to the right) has a column in which is rightly draws a lot of concern about the big money that is being spread all around the left of America starting with hundreds of millions being lavished by billionaire George Soros.  In his piece, DeLay blames this sizable and well financed liberal coalition of groups with the loss of Richard Pombo in California’s 11th District.  In his column, DeLay says:

I won’t contest DeLay’s assertion that this well financed web of ultra-leftists played a critical role in Pombo’s loss.  But I find it interesting that of all people, it is former Congressman Tom DeLay that is the one pointing this out.  You see, in my book, DeLay also bears much responsibility for Pombo’s loss.  You see, as Majority Leader, DeLay spent years whipping the votes in Congress that led to profligate spending, massive growth in entitlements (such as the Medicare prescription drug benefit debacle), and earmarks.  He also started the "K-Street Project" which was designed to get the lobbying firms in D.C. to start hiring Republican lobbyists, and cut off the flow of special interest dollars to the Democrats.  Of course, in retrospect, this "project" served to create an unhealthy closeness between the GOP and the DC special interests, and the new GOP lobbyists did their jobs too well.  Instead of our Republican majority shrinking the size and scope of federal spending in Washington, we’ve saw record increases.

So while DeLay is right to sound the siren of concern about Soros and this web of well-financed left-wing activity, it is important to note DeLay’s own central role in the GOP’s time at the trough.  If the GOP cannot reclaim the mantle of fiscal responsibility, we’ll never regain Congress.  Tom DeLay is on a short list of folks who could probably best help our cause by moving into the private sector, and away from politics.  To me, he is one of the symbols of how absolute power can corrupt the best intentions of just about anyone.

Oh, and on a closing note, I have spoken with DeLay, and he absolutely does not believe (shock) that he is any way responsible for what I lay at his feet.  He feels that the main fault of the GOP Congress was in lack of effective communication over what they were doing, and he does acknowledge some regret about not imposing more restrictions on earmarks in some cases.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 13th, 2007 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.