Bloomberg News reports today:

One of the surest paths to riches in Washington is to have these five words on a resume: "Office of Representative Tom DeLay."

The news service points out that 11 lobbyists who once worked for Majority Leader helped bring in some $45 million in fees for their firms over the past two years. In comparison, House Speaker's Dennis Hastert's former aides produced only $2.1 million for their firms.

The story goes on to report on how these former aides lobbied on issues that DeLay then championed, from the Medicare pharmaceutical bill to opposition to the Food and Drug Administration gaining authority to regulate tobacco.

Here's what Republican former Congressman Amo Houghton has to say in the story about the whole DeLay-scandal-mess:

``This is very damaging for the political system,'' said Amo Houghton, a Republican who represented a congressional district in upstate New York for 18 years before retiring in January. ``It doesn't help the Republican Party. It doesn't help anybody in politics.''

Couldn't have said it better.