Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

Crooks 'R Us

The U.S. Family Network, a public advocacy
group that operated in the 1990s with close ties to Rep. Tom DeLay and claimed
to be a nationwide grass-roots organization, was funded almost entirely by
corporations linked to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to tax
records and former associates of the group.

During its five-year existence, the U.S. Family Network
raised $2.5 million but kept its donor list secret.

Whatever the real motive for the contribution of $1
million — a sum not prohibited by law but extraordinary for a small, nonprofit
group — the steady stream of corporate payments detailed on the donor list
makes it clear that Abramoff's long-standing alliance with DeLay was sealed
by a much more extensive web of financial ties than previously known.

Records and interviews also illuminate the mixture
of influence and illusion that surrounded the U.S. Family Network. Despite
the group's avowed purpose, records show it did little to promote conservative
ideas through grass-roots advocacy. The money it raised came from businesses
with no demonstrated interest in the conservative “moral fitness”
agenda that was the group's professed aim. … …

The
DeLay-Abramoff Money Trail, by R. Jeffrey Smith

But our
president has already spoken…

HUME: Do you believe
he is innocent?

BUSH: Delay? Yes, I do.

The backdrop is Nixonian, so it's fitting that Mr. Bush has already pronounced
that his guy is not a crook.

But with the stash of cash weaving in and out of the hands of the most powerful
lobbyist and the most powerful man in the House, otherwise known as the guy
who got Bush's agenda pushed through Congress. The prez's pronouncement comes
in yet another “heck of a job” moment that now
includes Brownie, Rummy and Tommy, et al. By next Tuesday that list may grow. (ht Josh Marshall)

The Crooks 'R Us network of Bushies is a large and rarified Republican
crowd, members of the vaunted “family values” coalition. So it's extra
rich that Delay's U.S. Family Network was actually nothing but a slush fund,
employing only 1 full time employee. USFM's mission was to promote “economic
growth and prosperity, social improvement, moral fitness, and the general well-being
of the United States,” with Delay calling it “a powerful nationwide
organization dedicated to restoring our government to citizen control.”

Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay, with the approval of George W. Bush, has reduced
the House to the largest used car lot in history, with legislation the vehicle
that drives the cash into their hands and keeps their lifestyles and power base
fueled.

Mixed in with the Crooks 'R Us crowd is a lobbying group called Alexander Strategy
Group, which was run by Delay's former chief of staff, Edwin A. Buckham, as
well as a several Russian oil men, who also helped Delay make a trip to their
country. Of course, as he always does, Delay says he only went to Russia “to
meet with religious leaders there.”

So, basically Tommy used God so he wouldn't have to go to jail for a Mercedes,
which instead came in the form of a $1 million check. Sound ludicrous? Read
Smith's article and you'll understand.

… No legal bar exists to a $1 million donation by
a foreign entity to a group such as the U.S. Family Network, according to
Marcus Owens, a Washington lawyer who directed the IRS's office of tax-exempt
organizations from 1990 to 2000 and who reviewed, at The Post's request, the
tax returns filed by the U.S. Family Network.

But “a million dollars is a staggering amount
of money to come from a foreign source” because such a donor would not
be entitled to claim the tax deduction allowed for U.S. citizens, Owens said.
“Giving large donations to an organization whose purposes are as ambiguous
as these . . . is extraordinary. I haven't seen that before. It suggests something
else is going on.

“There are any number of red flags on these returns.”
…

Red flags are all over the money, the men and their machinations, which are
tied to an agenda that allegedly promotes family values, religious piety and
conservative values, but they're really a bunch of crooks and beginning next week, a bunch of them are going down. Happy New Year.