Give Tom DeLay His Money Back, Mr. Johnson!

With the Chicago Tribune reporting that all but one of the Republicans on the House Ethics Committee are ready to start proceedings against Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay for a raft of ethics violations (many summarized at the end of the Tribune article) -- and this further action less than a year after DeLay was admonished by the Ethics Committee for attempting to trade political favors for a vote on the Republican Medicare bill -- it seems a good time to consider Tim Johnson's close connection with Tom DeLay.

Tim Johnson has taken $25,000 for DeLay's ARMPAC. No Illinois member of Congress has taken more. And yet Johnson has chosen to keep the money, even as one ethics scandal after another comes to light about DeLay.

It doesn't have to be this way. Republican Congressman Mark Steven Kirk, who represents Illinois' Tenth District, gave back all $20,000 he received from Tom Delay back in September. Why didn't Tim Johnson do the same?

What does Tom DeLay get from Tim Johnson for all that money? Here's the Coles County Democrats (scroll down to April 17):

Just how tangled up in Tom DeLay's House of Scandal is Timothy Johnson?

Timothy Johnson has taken $25,000 from Tom DeLay's ARMPAC. No surprise that Johnson voted with Tom DeLay 87% of the time between Jan. 1 2004 and March 31 2005.

Is this the kind of government-for-hire that working families deserve?

Timothy Johnson voted to weaken the ethics rules in a move that many say served only to protect Tom DeLay.

Does the integrity of the House mean so little that Timothy Johnson would sacrifice it to defend Tom DeLay?

When Democrats offered a solution to clean up the House by strengthening ethics rules, Timothy Johnson voted to make sure it never even came to an up or down vote.

So instead of a bipartisan effort to get government working for Americans, Timothy Johnson stood for cronyism and partisan politics....

Voting percentage with DeLay:
calculated through:

www.cq.com
87%
3 Vote to weaken ethics rules:
H Res. 5, Roll Call #6, 1/4/05 YES
4 Vote to table Democratic solution:
H. Res. 153, Roll Call #70, 3/15/05 YES

The citizens of Central Illinois deserve an ethical government in Washington. Mr. Johnson, please follow the example of Republican Representative Kirk and give Tom DeLay his money back.