The Diddly Awards
Honoring the jaw-dropping achievements of the 108th Congress
Funny, until you realize who’s paying for these shenanigans.
The Roi Louis Grand Prix
••• Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) stonewalled a Democratic measure to adjust the child tax credit for 6.5 million working poor, denying families making less than $26,625 a $400 break, while giving a $93,500 tax cut to those making $1 million.••• Tom DeLay ordered the Homeland Security Department to help Texas Rangers chase down Democratic state legislators in order to win a redistricting vote. Even though everyone knew the Democrats had fled to Oklahoma, officers swarmed the homes of the Democrats’ families and in one case barged in on a neonatal intensive care unit where a legislator’s wife was caring for her newborn twins.
••• Tom DeLay held open the House Medicare vote throughout a dark night for democracy last November. DeLay panicked when it appeared that the budget-buster would go down 218-216. So he kept the vote open an unprecedented three hours for floor managers to strong-arm reluctant representatives until it passed.
and the winner is . . . .
Tom DeLay, who browbeat a D.C. restaurant manager to let him smoke a cigar at his table. When the manager stood his ground, explaining that because it was a federal building, smoking violated the law of the federal government, DeLay thundered back, “I am the federal government!”