DeLay's Real Problem - breach of "Contract With America"

Jonathan Gurwitz of the San Antonio Express-News has an article in today's Houston Chronicle reviewing the troubles Tom DeLay's political moves and the possible problems they could present. Gurwitz argues that most of the problems DeLay has encountered in recent years will not be his downfall. Instead, each of these small problems lead to a much bigger problem:

DeLay's problem, instead, arises from a contract he signed in 1994 and which he posts on his congressional Web site among "the great documents of freedom."

The Contract With America committed a new Republican majority not only to bringing new policies to Washington but also to transforming the way Congress and its leaders work.

Its first sentence pledges to rebuild "the bonds of trust between the people and their elected representatives." It calls for respecting the values and sharing the faith of the American family, restoring accountability to Congress and ending its cycle of scandal and disgrace.

Cozying up to influence peddlers like Jack Abramoff, however, can't but destroy public bonds of trust. Few Americans will share the value of all-expenses-paid trips abroad or have great faith in $473,801 in payments to family members. Sharing in Washington's imperial excesses does nothing to restore accountability or end disgrace.

For anyone who truly believes in the Contract With America, "the Democrats have always done it" is not an excuse, it's an indictment. Republicans, with DeLay in the vanguard, promised a breath of fresh air in 1994. Ten years on, the House leadership has a familiar, musty smell. And that is DeLay's problem.

It has been some time since I've seen the Contract With America invoked. Perhaps it is time someone reminded Republicans of the promise they made in the early 90's. It may be hard for them to honestly say they have kept that promise.