[Mb-civic] A Blow Against The Machine - E. J. Dionne - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

A Blow Against The Machine

By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, September 30, 2005; Page A19

The indictment of Tom DeLay challenges a system of power. It is a blow 
against a national political machine that blurs the lines between 
parties, interest groups and the relentless pursuit of political money.

Defenders of politicians under attack typically say, no matter what the 
abuse is: "But everybody does it." That excuse does not work here. 
DeLay, who was forced to step down as House majority leader, was a 
pioneer in something entirely new: a fully integrated political 
apparatus that linked Republican Party committees, lobbyists, 
fundraisers, corporations, ideological organizations and the process of 
governing itself.

There was a candid shamelessness, even genius, about how the operation 
worked. Traditional limits on what was permitted in politics were 
dismissed as the obsessions of squishes and goo-goos, a term coined long 
ago to deride advocates of good government.

Because DeLay's defenders want to gloss over the facts, it's important 
to understand the specifics of the indictment brought by Ronnie Earle, 
the Democratic district attorney in Travis County. The charges offer a 
fine summary of how the new machine politics works.

DeLay and two associates are accused of raising $155,000 from six 
corporations for a special political action committee he established, 
Texans for a Republican Majority. The PAC, in turn, wrote a check for 
$190,000 to the Republican National State Elections Committee.

The national committee turned around and made contributions to seven 
candidates in the 2002 state legislative elections in Texas. How did the 
national group know whom to help? According to the indictment, a DeLay 
associate provided Terry Nelson, the Republican official who received 
the check, with a list of candidates to support and the amounts they 
were to receive.

Why go to all this trouble? Because corporate contributions are illegal 
in races in Texas, so the corporate money needed to be laundered. The 
point of the exercise was to win a Republican majority in the Texas 
Legislature so DeLay could execute his plan to redraw congressional 
district boundaries, knock out Democratic incumbents and pad his 
majority in the House with five new Republicans.

DeLay insists he did nothing illegal, but even if he wins the case, the 
core facts speak to the hubris of the new machine politics. Drawing 
congressional district lines for political purposes is an old story, but 
DeLay went a step further. He got the Texas Legislature to toss out a 
congressional map that had been drawn only two years earlier, an 
unprecedented act of political gamesmanship.

The corporations that forked over the cash to DeLay's PAC did so not 
because their hearts were filled with affection for those particular 
Texas legislative candidates but because they recognized DeLay's power 
over federal legislation. It put an innovative gloss on one of the 
oldest rules in politics: Power begets money, which begets more power, 
which begets more money.

That's why this case cannot be viewed apart from other aspects of the 
DeLay empire. He extended his influence by muscling lobbying firms to 
hire Republicans of his choosing and to ostracize Democrats. DeLay's 
majority happily invited lobbyists in to help write bills. The Medicare 
prescription drug benefit is far more expensive than it has to be 
because of big concessions to drug companies and HMOs. Tax bills are 
littered with very specific loopholes to benefit very specific interests.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/29/AR2005092902662.html
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