Excellent Houston Chronicle Editorial Comparing Tom Delay to Sam Rayburn

April 9, 2005, 9:54PM

What would Mr. Sam say of Delay?
Two men shared a home state and party seat, but little else
By ELLEN MILLER


Sam Rayburn served in the U.S. House of Representatives for half a century, 35 years as majority leader and speaker. A man of considerable power in the Congress and histhe Democratic Party, hisMr. Sam's Rayburn's integrity was legendary. He refused even travel expenses for speaking engagements, shunned lobbyists' favors and was respected for his fairness by members on both sides of the aisle.

What would "Mr. Sam" say of his fellow Texan, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, whose nakedly unethical behavior and disregard for the democratic process have put him in the spotlight in the current Congress?

Rayburn helped pass most of the significant legislation of the first half of the 20th century, and by all accounts did it without taking a dime from special interests. According to political biographer Robert Caro, the speaker lived modestly and when he returned to East Texas in the mid-1960s to die from cancer, he had no more assets than when he left.

Contrast that with DeLay, this year's poster boy for the abuse of power and partisanship that govern Washington.



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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/outlook/3126614

There are so many. It's good to see them listed.

Delay needs to go straight to hell, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Dirtier than the bugs he used to exterminate.

Bake

A hell of a fall as far as Congressional representation goes.

Congress can get out from under his ugly shadow.

There are no similarities. Everything Sam Rayburn was, Tom Delay is NOT. Except for being a powerful Congressman.

Bake