Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-MO) has announced that he will not keep the $14,500 he has received from indicted former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's ARMPAC in his campaign coffers.

"The Missouri Republican also will not support DeLay's return to a leadership role, even if he is acquitted of all charges, spokesman Scott Baker said Monday," reports the Associated Press.

The Washington Times, September 14, 2005: "House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an 'ongoing victory,' and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget...Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, 'Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority we've pared it down pretty good.'"

With all the news of evacuations from Galveston and the greater Houston area, I want to wish all Daily DeLay readers from that region safe passage and our thoughts and prayers are with the people of the region as they prepare for what is potentially a devastating hurricane.

Tom DeLay and the Republicans, shamed by DeLay’s comments that the federal budget was "pared down pretty good," have come forward with “Operation Offset” to propose a number of cuts to help pay for hurricane relief. The New York Times’ Carl Hulse covers it this morning, listing the following items as ones on the chopping block:

Well, it looks like the "Gang of 500," who fancies itself so ahead of the curve, is finally catching on to what we've known for the past year. Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is in serious trouble.

ABC News' The Note has this today:

Under the headline "Everyone falls for DeLay Rope-a-Dope," Rush Limbaugh explains that, you know, all that stuff Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday about the budget being pared down, that was just a joke. That no one else got.

(You can see the story Rush is talking about in David's earlier posting.)

Democrats in Congress have asked for an independent panel, similar to that which investigated the events of September 11, to look into what went wrong in the federal government's bungled response to Hurricane Katrina.

Embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, however, has "shrugged off" those proposals, according to the Houston Chronicle. Speaking to reporters, DeLay "mocked" Democrats who have said they will boycott the panel unless its composition is altered.

Much has been made about Grover Norquist's famous utterance that conservatives ought to reduce the size of government so much that you could drown it in a bathtub.

At these times, when we have seen the human suffering caused by the success of this ideological agenda, Tom DeLay's statement in the Washington Times this morning should be seen in all of its candor and callousness:

The Houston Chronicle launched a blog from the Houston Astrodome, where thousands of New Orleans residents, displaced by Hurricane Katrina, are being sheltered.

In the latest blog posting, the writer recounts an unbelievable conversation between Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay and three boys currently living in the Astrodome.

"DeLay stopped to chat with three young boys resting on cots.

Glenn Smith of DriveDemocracy.org hit the Hammer on the head with a post at Blogging of the President. Think about the difference between the federal response to DeLay's request that Texas lawmakers get tracked down in Oklahoma versus the federal response, and DeLay's, to Hurricane Katrina. In Glenn's words: