(Tom) DeLay's defense fund in red

[sabra]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3626670.html

DeLay's defense fund in red
Congressman raised $590,000 last year but still owes hundreds of thousands more

WASHINGTON - Embattled U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay raised more money for his legal defense in 2005 than ever before but still owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to lawyers, according to documents released Tuesday.

DeLay, fighting an indictment in Texas on charges of illegal fundraising while facing scrutiny by federal prosecutors in Washington for his ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, raised $181,851 between Oct. 1 and the end of the year. That amount brought the total raised for his legal defense fund in 2005 to $590,520 — significantly more than the $439,550 recorded in 2004.

But during 2005, DeLay's legal expenses topped $1 million, said Brent Perry, a Houston attorney who administers the fund.

"We paid out well over $500,000 in legal fees (in 2005)," he said. The payments would leave DeLay owing lawyers at least $500,000, a figure Perry said was probably low.

[Caution]

1. bwahahahahahaha

Just as good as Tom Delay going to prison is Tom Delay getting out of prison with hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal debt.

[havocmom]

7. Perhaps in prison he will learn a new variation on his form of $$ raising.

:evilgrin:

Bub-bye Bug Man. Hello, Bend Over Boy.

[trogdor]

69. I think he ought to invest in some good kneepads.

He's got a purty mouth.

[Javaman]

18. Yeah, let's see HIM declare bankruptcy when all is done...

LOLOLOLOL, karma is a bitch.

[cantstandbush]

19. All those lobbyists can't contribute now because of Abramoff case.

LOL!

[calimary]

66. Well, why not? Nobody else seems to want to take their money at the moment

I mean, delay's already proven he's a gutsy, in-yer-face, nobody-tells-ME-what-to-do type of guy. What's stopping him? After all, you've gotta figure that some of that money was probably earmarked for him, already, before everybody started getting into trouble. And I'm sure many of those "orphan" lobbyists had many many dreams and fantasies about standing there in a photo with delay, shaking hands, and then handing over checks. I wonder how many of them reflexively grabbed a phone to call him, just by sheer force of habit, before snapping back rudely to reality...

:evilgrin:

[Dulcinea]

65. Did they use his fund for bail money?

He's being hung out to dry. Couldn't happen to a better guy.

[babylonsister]

2. Isn't karma a bitch? Heh heh. nt

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. That's a shame

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Lochloosa]

4. Where do I send a check?

:sarcasm:

[smtpgirl]

55. BWaa

Funny

[NYC Liberal]

56. Send a check for 0.00! LOL

[Mad_Dem_X]

67. Maybe we can organize a telethon

for the poor baby. :nopity:

[Roland99]

72. Send an invoice!

[LiberalEsto]

5. Well, he wanted an all-red Texas delegation

and now he's in the red.
Tee hee.

[UpInArms]

6. Perhaps "Casino" Jack "The Hat" could shake some more out of those

stupid injuns for the bugman. :eyes:

[gratuitous]

14. Just what I was thinking

DeLay's old pal Jack Abramoff should be good for a couple hundred thou, shouldn't he? Or does Jack have other priorities now? A new set of best friends? So sad to see former colleagues not helping each other out.

[lakeguy]

8. he spent 1 MILLION in 2005 on legal fees!?!

guess that shows how there really are two legal systems in the US. one for the haves and one for the have nots.

[FlaGranny]

11. Exactly what I was thinking.

What if he was just an ordinary guy?

[jmowreader]

36. If he was just an ordinary guy...

he wouldn't be in a position to have run up a million dollars in legal bills.

[FlaGranny]

48. That's the point.

But, an ordinary guy could USE the legal defense that a million dollars could buy, rather than an underpaid, overworked public defender with so much caseload, he only has a few hours to spend on each case.

[wordpix2]

23. "two American legal systems:" the have nots don't have one b/c they can't

afford a lawyer

[Tight_rope]

60. I hope he spends every penny he has....and still ends up in prison!

Now that would be the altimate KARMA.....GOD is good. He really does hear our prayers.

[calimary]

70. Probably because his mindset has, for years, been geared to just

spending whatever he felt like, because all his rich contributors and those friendly lobbyists looking for favors for their clients, and their clients independently, routinely coughed up whatever he needed. It was never his money to begin with. He just had more sugar daddies than anybody else because of his position and power and perceived clout, and his willingness to throw his weight around for causes of his own choosing. For years now, he's probably had a long line of eager political suitors at his door, pockets and checkbooks bulging, vying for the chance to grease his palms in exchange for strings he could pull and/or arms he could twist on their behalf. I doubt that he's had to worry about spending his own money for quite some time now.

But reality, like karma, can be a bitch. It's probably just a big, fat, rude jolt now, since he's been knocked down a few pegs. He doesn't have that nice fat-cat party-boss position anymore (since they gave it away - and not even to his friend and probably willing seat-warmer Blunt) from which he can do any power brokerage or call anybody for any favors or payoffs or bribes because EVERYONE who's anyone will take tom delay's call. NOT ANYMORE, chucko! Your high-and-mighty days are OVER!!!

I suspect in his rock-hard little heart at the moment, he's still smarting that there was so little interest in making his replacement an INTERIM person. Nobody wanted to keep a candle in the window for him. That's gotta hurt. Because I'm sure his heady days at the top of the pyramid left him with some pretty serious delusions of his own godhood. Old habits die hard.

[hang a left]

9. This is tearing me up

[stepnw1f]

10. awwwwwwwwwwwwww

[Judi Lynn]

12. Love these two closing pagraphs!

"Only 31 of 239 Republican House members donated to the legal fund through political committees, down from 44 who gave in 2004, Conor Kenny, a researcher for the group, pointed out.

"The fact that less than 15 percent of Republicans in the House contributed shows that many in (DeLay's) party want a break with the ethically challenged leadership of the party," Kenny said."

[DemonFighterLives]

13. Nothing could make me happier than to see that asshole squirm

:rofl: Dicky boy tried so hard, though he barely knew him, to bail him out. Maybe dicky forgot his generous donation from Haliburton. Cheap Bastards gonna let his buddy fry. :rofl:

[maddezmom]

15. LOL...great news

and from the look of the reception he got last night at SOTU...he's a lonely man. :evilgrin:

[Demeter]

16. He's So Dirty, Even Dubya Won't Support Him!

What a smuck. Both of them.

[Lexingtonian]

17. Republican donors don't fund losers

and DeLay has that big "L" tatooed on him. What a bummer that he'll have to cough up some of his own loot.

[stop the bleeding]

20. better do more insider trading - cockroach or roachcock n/t

[gasperc]

21. radioactive, when he farts it's a dirty bomb!!!

ha ha ha

even his mother won't give him money

[wordpix2]

22. couldn't happen to a more unlikeable guy

[MiniMe]

24. They are deserting him now because he is in too deep

He isn't ever going to get his leadership post back, and will probably end up in jail. It was OK to give him money when the "Tom Delay is innocent" spin was going on now, but now, giving to him would appear to support his corruption.

Poor Tom, what goes around, comes around. HeHeHe

[wordpix2]

25. gonna be hard for Bugman to run for his seat again since he's out of $

[AndyTiedye]

26. Do They Still Have Public Defenders in Texas?

Perhaps Mr. Delay may need to avail himself of the services of a public defender, if Texas has them anymore.

For now, all I can offer Mr. Delay is a tiny violin concerto to soothe his anxiety over his legal bills:
:nopity::nopity::nopity:
:nopity::nopity::nopity:
:nopity::nopity::nopity:

As Tom Delay awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was lying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly stay in place and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes.

[hunter]

37. He can get one of those Public Defenders who falls asleep.

I think the problem is that potential donors know he's the kind of guy who would embezzle money from his own legal defense fund.

[Amonester]

75. Did the repukes' cut$ have any effect on the funding of...

these legal services?

(Only in his case) that would be quite ironic...

(Only on his case) = :party:

[tanyev]

27. I'll give you a quarter, Tom. Use it to call somebody who cares.

[Canuckistanian]

28. He'll just tell you to give it to Abramoff

Force of habit, you know.

[tblue37]

44. Public telephones cost 50 cents now--where they are

available at all.

[quaoar]

29. Here's a thousand crying violins

playing "My Heart Pumps Piss For You."

[dchill]

I'll be sure to send him all the....

extra money I have! Woops...

[greiner3]

30. Does he take Paypal?

:rofl:

[BrotherBuzz]

31. The only new money he's going to be seeing are dimes

Methinks his " friends" are dropping dimes on him. LOL

[bvar22]

32. YEAH, Delay's needs more money...

....just like"Kennyboy" Lay is broke.
Just like Neil Bush was "broke" after Silverado.

GEE, we wouldn't want them to have to dip into their"offshore" accounts.
Cry me a river!

[WhiteTara]

33. boo hoo for the bug man

I hope his lawyers drop his ass for lack of payment.

[roguevalley]

34. this makes me happy. now he will know how Bill Clinton felt.

[JNelson6563]

35. Bravo!!

Perfect, just perfect. :toast:

[superconnected]

38. Sucks when you have crooks for friends, huh tom?

They don't give up the money when you need it.

[sofa king]

39. In prison, cigarettes are an acceptable form of currency.

R.J. Reynolds pumped him $17K and a corporate jet for his legal defense last year. Perhaps they'll smuggle in some cartons of smokes so he can avoid getting pumped in the ass.

[Not_Giving_Up]

46. No smokes in Texas prisons

No smoking allowed. No shit.

[formercia]

53. Bootie Call

Let's all send him some pink panties, red pumps and a case of disposable razors. He might need them if the cigs get confiscated.

[formercia]

64. Give Tom DeLay your 2 cents

send him a check for 2 cents with a comment on the memo line......your choice.

[formercia]

68. cut out coupons for disposable razors and feminine products

especially the ones with no expiration dates and include them with your donation.

[skids]

40. "THAN EVER BEFORE" ?!?!?!?!?!?!????!?!!

Some special kind of stupid is going on in this country when we give year-by-year running tallies of political coffers for courtroom defense budgets.

Someone get the smelling salts and wave them under my nose. Surely this must be all just a surreal dream.

[Straight Shooter]

42. Here you go, sweetie.

[Straight Shooter]

41. Please, join me in a DU rendition of Sympathy For The Devil ...

:nopity:

[American liberal]

43. too bad. so stinkin' sad n/t

[upi402]

45. LOL ROFLMAO, i can't breathe!

:rofl:

[rainbow4321]

47. DeLay's ARMPAC Broke($22,000 in previously-written checks had been "lost")

http://dailydelay.blogspot.com/

DeLay's ARMPAC has no money. ARMPAC's year-end report shows that the PAC received $17,000 from six different PACS. The PAC spent a little less than that on disbursements which mostly consisted of the salaries of Delay's wife (Christine DeLay), his daughter (Danni DeLay Ferro), and his codefendant in Texas Jim Ellis (the PAC gave Ellis his December paycheck and fronted him his January one as well).

The PAC is carrying a debt of nearly $150,000 which technically makes it insolvent. The PAC reported cash-on-hand at year's end of $44,000. It also reported that $22,000 in previously-written checks had been "lost," voiding them out, and thereby giving their account a credit for that amount. Without the unexpected $22,000, ARMPAC would barely have $20,000 in the bank.

[KDLarsen]

49. I'm starting to see a pattern here..

.. concerning "Fiscal Conservatives" & "Massive debts".

[AndyA]

50. Where are Bush and Cheney for a fund raiser when you need them?

Guess they don't support good ole Tom anymore, they've tossed him out now that he's done all he can do for them.

Oh wait...he can pull them down because he knows all the dirt about them. Look for an amazing influx of cash, or look for loyal Tom to spill the beans.

[donkeyotay]

71. That's an interesting thought. If the GOP uses Tom and throws him out

he could have a change of heart and do some of that famous "but they did it, too." Besides, why would Bug Man have legal bills when the POTUS said he KNEW that Delay was completely innocent? Maybe Delay should just have his lawyer tell the judge that he's not unavailable until...oh... 2010, at which time he'd be happy to stand trial, er, if they haven't lost the evidence.

[Robeson]

51. Great news!....

...Thanks!...:thumbsup: :toast:

[rocktivity]

52. There are always public defenders, Tom

I mean, if all YOUR savings are gone...

:evilgrin:
rocknation

[Orsino]

54. It could only happen to a nicer guy. n/t

[yellowcanine]

57. If someone gives me his adddress I'll send him a new 39 cent stamp.

Of course it will be used by the time he gets it.
Maybe he can make up the 500 grand killing bugs.

[orleans]

58. "suffa" n/t

[Tight_rope]

59. All that money down the toilet just to "TRY" to save the fucking crook!

Those fuckers who gave to his defense should have spent that money on the poor...but it dirty money and all the money in the world can't cover the truth.

And to all those who gave to Tom DeLay's defense, I want to send you a get "BIG FUCK YOU" may you rot in hell with him when yall get there.:puke: :puke:

[rumpel]

61. oops! does this poor man now have to pay out of his personal stash?

[Buns_of_Fire]

62. Tom, this is your cellmate. We call him "Big Bubba" 'round here.

Tom, meet Bubba. Bubba, this is Tommy. I'll leave you two boys to get acquainted. (Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee.....) :evilgrin:

[formercia]

73. Look like Tommy is going to need a flush first.

Gotta make some room at the inn.

[abex]

63. i won't be happy until he's back spraying for bugs

After he serves a term upstate, of course.

[Tight_rope]

74. Being a bug sprayer would be to great a profession for Tom DeLay now!

He doesn't deserves the respect the Orcan man does.