KR: DeLay blames Democrats, war for runaway federal spending

[Pirate Smile]

DeLay blames Democrats, war for runaway federal spending

By Steven Thomma

Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Republicans may control Congress and the White House, but a leading House Republican says they can't be blamed for runaway federal spending on their watch.

Blame it on the war, said Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas. Or the Democrats.

-snip-
He also blamed Democrats, complaining that they haven't offered any suggestions on how to cut spending. He said they created a congressional budget process that makes it difficult to cut spending.

"We've been operating off a Congress designed by Democrats," he said.

The Republicans took control of Congress in 1995.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/13074537.htm

[Enraged_Ape]

1. The only thing I want to hear from this criminal...

is whether he wants bread or "$hit on a shingle" to go with his water in his cell.

[Pirate Smile]

2. more

"J. William Lauderback, the executive vice president of the American Conservative Union, challenged DeLay's version of congressional spending history. He told DeLay that he ignored the fact that only one-third of the rise in federal spending under Republicans stemmed from security. He also noted that House Republican leaders have advised their members to campaign on the local benefits of the recent highway bill, ripped by many conservatives as wasteful spending.

"I'm not here to defend the highway bill," DeLay said. Then he defended it, saying that without the bill, his Houston district wouldn't get its fair share of highway money. "

[Rose Siding]

3. The guy's a laugh riot!

So now he's anti-war and the dems secretly control the govt?

[yy4me]

4. Is there any wonder why we're going to hell in a handbasket?

This reasoning makes me sick. Do we have a chance against these idiots?

[WI_DEM]

5. let's see they control the WH and both houses of congress

and it's still the Democrats fault?

[Sandpiper]

6. Even when the GOP controls every branch, it's still the Dems fault

Gotta love that "party of personal responsibility."

Funny how we didn't see a return to defecit spending until we had a Republican President with a Republican Congress.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

17. The Clenis is still around, signing those damn spending bills

that the minority somehow keep passing.

[pinniped]

7. This asshole should assign blame to where it belongs.

His POS* boss's personal wet dream to get Sadaam.

[AX10]

8. Das GOP controls the entire government with a Stalinesque...

fist. The GOP is to blame for the troubles that plague the country.

[zara]

9. 3 X # of Institutions of Government under GOP= Democrats at Fault!

Partisan logic at its finest!

[Shakespeare]

10. "The Republicans took control of Congress in 1995."

Now THAT is an example of outstanding reporting. Take one very simple, straightforward and completely damning fact, and drop it in immediately after that quote by DeLay.

Well done.

[flamingyouth]

11. Man, who writes his material?

:rofl:

[Fenris]

12. Jesus!

:rofl:

[flamingyouth]

13. "And I would have gotten away if it weren't for those meddling kids!"

Man, he's like an extra-pathetic Scooby-Doo villain.

[Fenris]

15. Congress of course being his creepy abandoned amusement park.

:rofl:

[brentspeak]

14. You can always count on Tom DeLay for a good laugh.

[Roland99]

16. Batshit insane. It's the Dems' fault for not curtailing the Repubs' abuses

:rofl:

[blm]

20. And minorities to blame for taking all the good Vietnam posts from

great, brave patriots like Tom.

Really.

Tom said so.

[The_Casual_Observer]

18. A little background on Delay:

After living part of his childhood in Venezuela due to his father's work in the petroleum and natural gas industry, DeLay received a degree in biology from the University of Houston in 1970, though he had previously been expelled from Baylor University for drinking. There he gained a reputation as a playboy, earning the nickname "Hot Tub Tom". <2> Prior to entering politics, DeLay ran a pest control company, which was reportedly "at best a struggling operation". DeLay faced tax liens three times by the IRS for not paying payroll and income taxes, and paid settlements to two different associates who said they were cheated by him. <3>

DeLay was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1978. He struggled with alcoholism during his service there. By his own admission, he was drinking "eight, ten, twelve martinis a night at receptions and fundraisers." <4>

DeLay became a born-again Christian in 1985, following the battle with alcoholism that plagued his life and caused his expulsion from Baylor. After Christine DeLay began volunteering as a court-appointed special advocate for children in foster care, the DeLays also became foster parents. DeLay has declined to comment on reports in The New Yorker that he is estranged from much of his family, including his mother and one of his brothers <5>. According to The Washington Post, DeLay has not spoken to his younger brother, Randy, a Houston lobbyist, since 1996, when a complaint to the House Ethics Committee prompted Tom DeLay to cut his brother off in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest <6>.


FROM WIKI

[dmr]

23. Hot Tub Tom, eh? What a disturbing thought

Wonder what the rift is between DeLay and his family?

[The_Casual_Observer]

24. The tub part sure.

[Cha]

19. Does anyone else think this

bugman sounds like a whiny, pissy, mentally challenged, prepubescent?

[ninkasi]

22. I do!

I also can't decide whether he and Bush are worse before, or after they "find Jesus." It seems to me that who they find is the one on the other side.

[Cha]

27. They're worse after they..

Say they find Jesus..cause they're lying their asses off. Jesus was a Liberal but since their base doesn't know any better they vote for the Judases and give them the power to lie, cheat, steal, and murder in the name of the USA.

[NEOBuckeye]

21. Such a whiner, isn't he?

It's ALWAYS someone else's fault when it comes to poor ol' Tom DeLay. What ever happened to that old conservative addage about pulling onesself up by the bootstraps?

[NanceGreggs]

25. And when is this little pissant Goldilocks ...

... going to find a judge who's not too Dem, not too Lib, but JUST RIGHT????

For a man who keeps yelling that he is innocent of all charges, and has nothing to hide, he sure seems to NEED a certain kind of judge (i.e. one who is slanted his way) to prove his innocence!

Watch for it: Next he'll be talking about how the insurgents have developed IEDs that can cut through armour -- and cite it as the REASON the Repugs refused to equip our soldiers in Iraq with body armour! He'll say they saw this coming, and that's why they didn't want to waste the taxpayers' dollars.

Remember, I called it.

[Cha]

29. That's a good one..

"goldilocks" wants it just right!

[Matilda]

26. Does this mean the Democrats started the war?

Just asking.

[Iris]

30. I'd like to know, too!

This was my first thought!

Damn those Dems are powerful - minority in both houses of Congress and they can STILL cause trouble!

[Canuckistanian]

28. Wah! It's your fault because you didn't stop us! Wah!

The logic of a three year old.

Wait, I take that back. Three year olds CAN distinguish between right and wrong.

[madmark]

31. That statement is not even going to be palatable for a Republican

kool aid drinker.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

32. I wonder if they actually believe that doublespeak

when they say it.

I bet they really DO. They say it with such FERVOR.

[havocmom]

33. The nasty ass old coot senator from Alaska and his bridge

are NOT democrats. The party in power is the party that decides on the pork dished out. That would be the party of Tom DeLay.

Tell Tom I said he can take Stephen's bridge to no where and shove it up his ass... for starters.

[msongs]

34. the PRESIDENT controls the budget via accept or veto and bush has

never vetoed a spending bill...has he ever vetoed anything?

Msongs
www.msongs.com/chinamart.htm

[nickgutierrez]

36. He threatened to veto the anti-torture bill

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/07/wus207.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/07/ixworld.html

But I don't think he actually had to do it as it never reached his desk.

[JerseygirlCT]

35. Oh brother. I certainly hope none but the

fringe radicals actually believe this crap.

I especially hope he has to continue spewing it from behind bars.

[annabanana]

37. I will miss Knight Ridder. . . . .n/t

[Maggie_May]

38. They just can't take blame for anything

They couldn't stand up to there beloved President. Even the Democrats stood up against a Democratic President when needed. The Republicans have screwed this country up and its no ones fault buy theirs!!!
They are also forgetting we once had a surplus thats right a surplus. No, they couldn't have that they had to piss that all a way on invading a another country. Oh I forget, that was going to pay for itself. I could go on and on but, Delay isn't worth my time.

[illflem]

39. I think DeLay is absolutely correct.

If the Democrats had won some elections, we wouldn't be in this mess.

[rodeodance]

40. he sounds like a blabbering idiot-must be taking lessions from Frist!

[goodboy]

41. No Ideas? How about getting rid of Bush's "wealthfare" tax cuts???

How about stopping corporate wealthfare, and record profits by oil companies made on our backs?

It's not that we don't have ideas, tom you fucking prick.

You just don't like them.

[Raiden]

42. What a dumbass partisan hack

Who the fuck controls the House anyway? DeLay is a DUMBASS!

[Carolab]

43. I can't wait for Dean's response to this!

It'll be good...watch for it...probably tomorrow, if I know him at all

[Carolab]

44. What's the matter with Kansas? Other papers are reporting this:

http://www.heritage.org/press/NewspapersSpending.cfm (Notice this is from The Heritage Foundation!)

Here's an example:

{snip}

The (Riverside, CA) Press Enterprise (10/12)http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/editorials/stories/PE_OpEd_Opinion_D_op_12_ed_delay2.12d150db.html
celebrates Rep. Tom DeLay’s ouster from GOP leadership in the hope that it may return Republicans to fiscal sanity:

… those who have tired of watching a conservative "revolution" morph into a complacent, spend-happy majority have reason to hope for saner days ahead.

DeLay was House majority whip from 1994 until January 2003, when he became majority leader. Before resigning that post Sept. 29, he presided over a years-long spending spree that would redden the cheeks of Clinton-era Democrats of the go-go '90s.

Non-defense "discretionary" spending has jumped an average of 8.4 percent in each of the past five years, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and the federal debt is now nearly $ 8 trillion.

The latest splurge was the $ 286.4 billion highway bill that President Bush signed in August, stuffed with more than 6,000 pieces of pork for pet congressional projects. Last month, DeLay said that there was no fat to cut in that bill or others to offset the hundreds of billions of dollars needed for hurricane relief on the Gulf Coast. That is plainly absurd.

{snip}