ATTACK ON DELAY TARGETS TACTICS DEMOCRATS USED

We now have irrefutable proof that the Democrats are scared silly about Republicans' winning the White House and retaining control of both houses of Congress. Only such desperation could explain their bizarre lawsuit against majority whip Tom Delay.

No less a moral icon than Rep. Patrick Kennedy (R. I.) is spearheading this suit that accuses Delay of helping to form three tax-exempt organizations for the purposes of political extortion and money laundering. By threatening to withhold favorable action on legislation affecting them, Delay allegedly pressured entities to make contributions to these organizations (extortion). And by falsely asserting that the organizations were not political committees, they avoided the requirement that their donor lists be publicly disclosed -- even though the organizations passed these funds on to the Republican Party (money laundering).

Kennedy chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and has a vested interest in obstructing Delay's Republican fund-raising efforts on behalf of congressional Republicans. Indeed, Kennedy acknowledged that he couldn't wait on the Department of Justice or Federal Election Commission to investigate because their investigation wouldn't be in time to prevent the organizations from flooding key congressional races with money.

In the press conference announcing his lawsuit, Kennedy conveniently forgot to mention the fact that several top Democratic Party contributors have used similar techniques to keep their donors private. He also failed to reveal that his suit relies solely on hearsay gleaned through newspaper articles concerning Delay's fund-raising activities. No one was interviewed, nor was any investigation conducted prior to the filing of the suit.

The Clinton administration has amassed quite a legacy in misusing the judicial system to circumvent the legislative process and force companies, such as tobacco and gun manufacturers, to take action in accordance with its dictates. Now its Democrat counterparts in Congress are following suit (pun intended).

The civil action was filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a federal statute aimed at organized crime. Even G. Robert Blakey, one of the law professors who helped draft RICO, admits Kennedy's lawsuit is a misuse of RICO, which was designed to cover business and personal activities rather than political dealings.

Let's be honest. This lawsuit is not about campaign finance abuses. It is transparently motivated to accomplish several goals:

1. To dry up GOP congressional fund raising.

2. To enable Democrats to obtain confidential campaign information through the discovery process.

3. To demonize Tom Delay.

Democrats have been looking for a suitable devil to replace Newt Gingrich since he retired. Thus far, nothing has stuck to Delay. They figure this high-profile case may turn that around. Making Delay a symbol of evil would aid them in nationalizing their effort to recapture Congress by instilling fear in the voters about a Republican Congress led by this "criminal."

What really frosts me here is the Democrats' selective indignation about alleged campaign-finance violations. If Kennedy and his colleagues were truly concerned about campaign-finance abuses, they would quit posturing and help Republicans get to the bottom of Charles LaBella's disturbing revelations before a Senate subcommittee Monday. LaBella recommended to Janet Reno that she seek the appointment of an independent prosecutor to investigate the connection between President Clinton and Bernard Schwartz, the Democratic Party's largest individual donor in 1995-1996.

The Washington Times, in a May 7 editorial, laid out the "quid-pro-quo chronology of political donations from Schwartz ... and the favorable technology-transfer decisions the Clinton administration made that greatly benefited Schwartz's firm (Loral Corp.) to the detriment of U.S. national security." I would urge everyone who is remotely interested in this nation's security to read this chilling editorial and study its timeline.

Honestly, which is cause for greater concern: hearsay allegations of campaign-finance abuses that result in an advantage to a political party, or allegations by the former head prosecutor of the Justice Department's campaign task force of campaign-finance abuses that result in an advantage to a political party and severe and permanent damage to the national security?

Until Kennedy and his Nero-fiddling friends quit playing partisan games and put the interests of their country ahead of their party, they will have no credibility. They ought to be thrown out of court and out of office.

~David Limbaugh of Cape Girardeau is a columnist for Creators Syndicate.