Molly Ivins October 18

You have to draw the line somewhere, and personally, I think House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and the House Republican leadership stepped way over it when they used their political offices to try to get a private citizen fired by a private organization because they don't like the man's politics. And what really takes the cake is that they then had a public dispute about who deserved the most credit for damaging the man.

You know, there once was a country where you had to belong to a certain political party in order to get an important job. We used to consider it our enemy.

Dave McCurdy is a former Democratic congressman from Oklahoma, a moderate-to-conservative fellow with friends on both sides of the aisle. He was defeated in 1994, like many Democrats who had voted in '93 for the Clinton tax package, and like many former politicians, he went into lobbying. He was in line to become president of the Electronic Industries Alliance, a trade association.

DeLay is called "The Hammer" for his tough tactics with lobbyists. Speaker Newt Gingrich, Majority Leader Dick Armey and DeLay delayed action on two important but non-controversial bills of concern to the EIA, both treaties involving intellectual property rights.

There was nothing subtle about this play. The threat and the quid pro quo were quite explicit; the message was given to electronics lobbyist John Palafoutas by Gingrich's chief of staff, and he in turn passed it on to the EIA. It wasn't just that the Republicans didn't want McCurdy hired; they had their own candidate for the job. They wanted retiring Republican Rep. Bill Paxon put in.

The association nevertheless chose McCurdy over Paxon; Republican leaders were so enraged that they ordered their staff members not to meet with any EIA officials. The story broke this month in the Capitol Hill paper Roll Call.

Now, as it happens, making hiring and firing decisions for the Electronics Industry Association is not in the job descriptions of Gingrich, Armey or DeLay.

Most big lobbying groups are shrewd enough to hire lobbyists in pairs — one to work the Republican side, one to work the Democrats. (In truly big-stakes lobbying efforts, a lobbyist is sometimes hired for his influence with a single member of Congress.) But McCurdy was hired as president of the association, a role that involves being a public spokesman more than a lobbyist. What is truly astonishing is that the Republicans not only apparently feel no sense of shame over any of this, but they actually believe they are entitled to do such things.

DeLay has been pressuring lobbyists since the Republicans first took over; it is called the "K Street strategy," for the street on which many lobbyists have offices.

He not only pressures lobbyists to contribute to Republicans — he also pressures them not to contribute to Democrats, and he pressures big lobbying firms to hire more Republicans by threatening to withhold access to powerful GOP members of Congress. The Republicans consider this "hardball."

But to hold up international treaties that are of concern to many groups besides the electronics industry in order to influence a hiring decision at a private organization — whew, that's some hardball.

"I think it's extortion, misuse of an official position," Rep. Jerrold Nadler told The Washington Post. "At a minimum, Democrats should ask for an ethics investigation, at maximum, ask for a criminal investigation."

In what has to be the funniest political response of the year, DeLay loftily announced, "We don't appreciate Nadler's heavy-handed tactics."

Nadler's heavy-handed tactics!

Rep. John Linder, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, told the Post that Republicans want to "expose the hypocrisy" of former Democratic staff members and lawmakers who represent business groups. "They whisper in the ear of the people who hire them that they're with them," he said, "then they go to a Democratic prayer group and meet and pray for a Democratic majority." What do you suppose Linder has been taking lately?

In addition to holding up the two treaties, the Republican leadership also directly contacted the CEOs of member companies of the EIA to demand that McCurdy be removed and Paxon hired. Linder set up a "phone bank" to lean on EIA members, and according to Roll Call, several EIA member companies bowed to pressure. However, after the publicity, McCurdy was hired without a negative vote.

Linder also said he told the National Association of Home Builders that GOP leaders have less interest in working with that group because they hired a Democrat as CEO. "They came to see me yesterday," he said. "I told them I am not going to get to know (the new CEO), so save your time."

I'm starting to like this guy Linder. Go ahead, ignore the National Association of Home Builders, fella — good on ya.

It would be funny if it weren't both bizarre and scary. If you have to be a Republican to do business with Congress, we're on our way to a one-party state.

Molly Ivins is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. To find out more about Molly Ivins and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

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