{"id":202,"date":"2005-12-26T00:47:08","date_gmt":"2005-12-26T06:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/?p=202"},"modified":"2005-12-24T12:47:49","modified_gmt":"2005-12-24T18:47:49","slug":"nice-work-if-you-can-get-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/nada\/dump-duhbya\/nice-work-if-you-can-get-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Nice Work If You Can Get It"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/10554513\/\">Donors underwrite life of luxury for DeLay<\/a><\/p>\n<p>As Tom DeLay became a <\/p>\n<p>king of campaign fundraising, he lived like one too. He visited cliff-top Caribbean resorts, golf courses designed by PGA champions and <\/p>\n<p>four-star restaurants \u2014 all courtesy of donors who bankrolled his political money empire.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past six years, the former <\/p>\n<p>House majority leader and his associates have visited places of luxury most Americans have never seen, often getting there aboard <\/p>\n<p>corporate jets arranged by lobbyists and other special interests.<\/p>\n<p>Public documents reviewed by The Associated Press tell the <\/p>\n<p>story: at least 48 visits to golf clubs and resorts; 100 flights aboard company planes; 200 stays at hotels, many world-class; and 500 <\/p>\n<p>meals at restaurants, some averaging nearly $200 for a dinner for two.<\/p>\n<p><img \n\nsrc=\"http:\/\/msnbcmedia.msn.com\/i\/msnbc\/Components\/Art\/USNEWS\/051221\/DELAY_LIFESTYLE.gif\" alt=\"DeLay's donors fund jet-setting lifestyle\" \n\n\/><\/p>\n<p>Since he joined the House leadership as majority whip in 1995, DeLay has raised at least $35 million for his campaign, PACs, <\/p>\n<p>foundation and legal defense fund. He hasn\u2019t faced a serious re-election threat in recent years, giving him more leeway than candidates <\/p>\n<p>in close races to spend campaign money.<\/p>\n<p>AP\u2019s review found DeLay\u2019s various organizations spent at least $1 million over the last <\/p>\n<p>six years on hotels, restaurants, golf resorts and corporate jet flights for their boss and his associates.<\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s illegal for <\/p>\n<p>a lawmaker to tap political donations for a family vacation, it is perfectly legal to spend it in luxury if the stated purpose is raising <\/p>\n<p>more money or talking politics. &#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., a Republican author of legislation that reformed campaign <\/p>\n<p>finance, was just as critical of DeLay\u2019s spending habits.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s excessive, <strong>it\u2019s obscene<\/strong>, it distorts someone\u2019s <\/p>\n<p>ability to have good judgment,\u201d said Shays, a longtime critic of DeLay. \u201cIt\u2019s an abuse of campaign finance law and of our ethics law. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s harmful to Congress in general and the Republican Party in particular. We need a new leader.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Donors underwrite life of luxury for DeLay As Tom DeLay became a king of campaign fundraising, he lived like one too. He visited cliff-top Caribbean resorts, golf courses designed by PGA champions and four-star restaurants \u2014 all courtesy of donors who bankrolled his political money empire. Over the past six years, the former House majority &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/nada\/dump-duhbya\/nice-work-if-you-can-get-it\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Nice Work If You Can Get It<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dump-duhbya"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}