Nice work - if you can get it.

Saw this over at Eschaton..

From the Times:

WASHINGTON, April 5 - The wife and daughter of Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, have been paid more than $500,000 since 2001 by Mr. DeLay's political action and campaign committees, according to a detailed review of disclosure statements filed with the Federal Election Commission and separate fund-raising records in Mr. DeLay's home state of Texas.

Most of the payments to his wife, Christine A. DeLay, and his only child, Dani DeLay Ferro, were described in the disclosure forms as "fund-raising fees," "campaign management" or "payroll," with no additional details about how they earned the money. The payments appear to reflect what Mr. DeLay's aides say is the central role played by the majority leader's wife and daughter in his political career.

Mr. DeLay's national political action committee, Americans for a Republican Majority, or Armpac, said in a statement on Tuesday that the two women had provided valuable services to the committee in exchange for the payments: "Mrs. DeLay provides big picture, long-term strategic guidance and helps with personnel decisions. Ms. Ferro is a skilled and experienced professional event planner who assists Armpac in arranging and organizing individual events."

I'm not horrified, but then I didn't give any money to DeLay's campaign. Then again, maybe I'm just jealous. I'd like to get paid a half million dollars to help with "personal decisions".

Honey - I think you should buy the BMW 745LI, and not the Audi A8. I'll invoice your supporters for that advice for $10,0000. Thanks!

You know.... I need to read some right wing blogs today, because I'm really curious how they're going to rationalize that one. More than likely, they'll just ignore it.

** edit **

I haven't posted a bunch of other DeLay related atrocities, but the buzz is he's about to go down hard. His own supporters are turning on him..

WASHINGTON - A six-day trip to Moscow in 1997 by then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, was underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the trip arrangements.

DeLay reported that the trip was sponsored by a Washington-based nonprofit organization. But interviews with those involved in planning DeLay's trip say the expenses were covered by a mysterious company registered in the Bahamas that also paid for an intensive $440,000 lobbying campaign...

** Update **

The buzz flying around the net right now is that the GOP is giving Delay up for the take down. It's highly rare that you see party insiders giving up information to the news media that condems a house majority leader. Cheney's comments over the weekend seemed a little odd to me as well. Even Drudge is posting headlines about DeLay's Russian trip being paid for by lobbyist.

** Update 2 **

Freepers are going bat-shit-crazy because Frist did a total turn-about on "activist judges".

There's a lot going on in the GOP right now. They are scrambling like mad. DeLay is toast, and I think Cornyn really fucked up last night by not apologizing, and instead chose to blame the public for taking his comments "out of context".

Frist knows he's on a short leash so he did a complete 180 on the whole "activist" judge issue. Cheney is also backing off that mantra.

Why? The GOP knows they have pretty much reached the limit of the American publics tolerance of their craziness. Now the Dem's need to ratchet up the pressure and keep hitting it hard. Keep flaming Cornyn, Frist, and DeLay at every media opportunity.

Don't back down now, because I think the public is starting to turn. Bush's approval ratings are at an all-time low. Recent polling shows that for the first time, the public thinks they were lied to about the justifications for the war instead of the Administration just being "wrong". 82% of the public didn't want the religious freak show over Terry Schiavo.

In other words, the worm is turning. I fully expect the '06 elections to be a major turning point. Historically, the opposition party has done well in the midterms of the 2nd Administration - and this time the GOP is handing the Dems every break.

** Update 3 **

This is my favorite of the Freeper rants...

Hillary Clinton has bigger testicles than Senate Eunuch Leader Frist. He is a disgraceful coward. I thought Lott was an ineffectual milquetoast but Frist reaches new lows of cravenly resignation daily.

13 posted on 04/05/2005 2:14:02 PM PDT by MisterRepublican

** Update 4 **

"Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) says Democrats suffered major setbacks in the 1990s when an ethics-challenged leader -- House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.), who resigned in 1989 -- became a larger symbol of his party than its platform issues. 'That's a cocktail for disaster,' Graham said. If a political leader's personal problems are coupled with 'some policy decisions that are disconnected to the public, then you've got an opening' for trouble, he said. 'If we don't watch it, it could happen to us.'"