GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER IN TEXAS

Great piece sent by Sarah today. I suppose the crooks and liars need to stick together when times are tough.

We're on to you, guys. We are on to you. Ready to do some heavy hitting protesting, friends? LS


Tom Delay is a crook, even the majority of my Republican friends, etc... say so - this should make your skin crawl - Dick Cheney is planning to make appearances, etc... in support of Tom Delay - if THAT doesn't raise a few eyebrows, not sure what will. SG

Below is a story in the Houston Chronicle

It's hush-hush, but Cheney's coming to stump for DeLay

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER IN TEXAS

and I am throwing up. LS

Hotel is booked and the invitations are going out for a major fundraising gala in September

By SAMANTHA LEVINE and MICHAEL HEDGES
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney is scheduled to appear at a campaign event for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay at a Houston hotel in mid-September.
A spokeswoman for Cheney said that security concerns precluded his office from releasing the vice president's schedule more than a few days in advance.

"We are not making any announcements about events in mid-September," the spokeswoman said.

DeLay's office also would not comment.

However, the time and date of the event, 5-7 p.m. on Sept. 16, and location, the Westin Galleria Hotel, were posted on a Clear Lake GOP online bulletin board (groups.yahoo.com/group/ClearLakeGOP/message/34) and some invitations already have been sent out.

One Houston-area executive said she received an invitation and put the details in her calendar.

"It is just a fundraiser to show that Mr. DeLay has got the support of the administration," she said.

The White House has offered cordial words for DeLay over the past several months despite questions about whether lobbyists paid for some of DeLay's overseas travel, a violation of House rules.

In late April during a Social Security forum in Galveston, Bush said: "I appreciate the leadership of Congressman Tom DeLay in working on important issues that matter to the country."

DeLay rode back to Washington with Bush on Air Force One.

At a National Republican Committee gala in May, Bush said, "Tom DeLay is a fine majority leader" as he ran through a list of encomiums for GOP officials.

Those comments came during a period when many questions were being raised about DeLay's political activities, including his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was recently indicted in Miami for wire fraud and is under investigation in Washington for allegedly bilking millions from Indian tribes that hired him as a lobbyist.

As for his overseas travel, DeLay has said he is ready and willing to bring a decade's worth of records to the House Ethics Committee, which would pursue any congressional investigation into who paid for the trips.

The panel, which was held up for months by partisan wrangling, is now slowly taking the steps, such as hiring lawyers, that it must complete before it could begin an investigation.

The Houston fundraiser would constitute the second major event for DeLay this year.

In mid-May, nearly 1,000 people attended an event organized by the American Conservative Union to defend DeLay against criticism.

More than a dozen conservative leaders and politicians offered words of support for the majority leader.

DeLay said the tribute stiffened his resolve to fight what he considers baseless Democrat attacks on his character.

He has strenuously denied any wrongdoing.