Fraud, conspiricay and corruption, and racketeering. I mean, how different is this from the old protection racket that soapy Smith inflicted on Skagway?
DeLay Helped Cement GOP Ties to Lobbyists - Los Angeles Times: "WASHINGTON � Whether or not Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) returns to power, few industry lobbyists in the nation's capital are likely to forget the lesson he once taught the electronic manufacturers: Support the Republican Party � or else.

That industry felt DeLay's wrath in the fall of 1998, when one of its leading trade associations hired a Democrat as its top lobbyist. DeLay and his staff temporarily blocked one of the industry's favorite measures from coming to a vote.

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His slap at the Electronic Industries Alliance led to a private reprimand from the House Ethics Committee, and even some Republicans called his approach heavy-handed. But DeLay was not deterred.

And the beleaguered former House majority leader has left a lasting mark on the capital: turning the Washington lobbying establishment into a critical cog of the Republican political machine.

Seven years after the dust-up with the electronics group, many on K Street � home to Washington's network of business associations and lobbying shops � believe they can no longer divide political contributions evenly between the parties. Instead, they see their success in Congress riding more on how hard they work to provide money and political muscle to the Republican Party and its quest for a long-lasting conservative majority.

Although DeLay's indictment this week on a Texas campaign finance charge renews questions about the ethics of mixing corporate interests and electoral politics, his well-cemented relationship with business is likely to benefit the GOP into the future."