It is very simple, just follow the money. From opensecrets.org, it seems that pro-israel pacs contribute the largest share from the ideological pacs category in Delay's 2000 re-election campaign. Would you not say that there is a direct correlation between the money given and speaking out in favor of Israel. It seems pretty clear to me.
Ideological/Single Issue PACs
Republican/Conservative $2,733 Leadership PACs $5,079 Foreign & Defense Policy $1,000 Pro-Israel $14,200 Misc Issues $296 Gun Rights $13,900 Candidate Committees $3,500
And contribution from within the pro-Israel Pacs are broken down as follows:
Americans for Good Government $2,000 BAYPAC $200 Florida Congressional Cmte $1,000 Louisiana for American Security $500 National Action Cmte $1,000 National PAC $5,000 North Jersey PAC $1,000 Northwest PAC $1,000 Washington PAC $500 Women's Pro-Israel National PAC $1,000 Young Jewish Leadership PAC $1,000
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/memberprofile.asp?cid=N00005892&cycle=2000&e xpand=Q05
Naji
----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com> To: "lbo-talk" <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 8:33 AM Subject: Tom the Exterminator on the Middle East
> [no date, but it must have been yesterday - so if U.S. support of
> Israel is all about the strength of the Israeli lobby, how do you
> explain a right-wing cretin like DeLay's vigorous support? his
> earlier employment as an exterminator?]
>
> WASHINGTON (Associated Press) - Suicide bombings and other "evil
> tactics" used by Israel's enemies threaten the civilized world
> itself, the incoming House majority leader said Wednesday. Rep. Tom
> DeLay praised President Bush (news - web sites) for "standing solidly
> with Israel."
>
> "We cannot allow the flame of democracy to be extinguished by a wave
> of aggression," said DeLay, R-Texas, who as majority whip now ranks
> third among House leaders. "The terrorists attempting to destroy the
> state of Israel should know that America will never allow that to
> happen."
>
> DeLay commended Bush for "resisting the constant calls to force
> Israel back to the negotiating table, where they will be pressured to
> grant concessions to terrorists."
>
> "The free world must never negotiate with terrorists," he said in the
> text of a speech to be delivered Wednesday evening at Westminster
> College in Fulton, Mo., where Winston Churchill gave his "Iron
> Curtain" speech a half-century ago.
>
> "Suicide bombings specifically, and terrorism generally, are not a
> form of resistance - they are cold-blooded murder," he said. "This
> hellish strategy of destruction menaces far more than the state of
> Israel. It is a threat to the entire civilized world."
>
> DeLay praised Israel as a "lone light of democracy" in the region,
> "fending off an orchestrated onslaught of death ... by groups
> committed to her complete elimination."
>
> He denounced the Yasser Arafat-led Palestinian Authority as an
> "impediment to peace."
>
> "During four decades of terrorism, Yasser Arafat has proven his total
> contempt for human life," DeLay said. Therefore, he said, "We should
> support Israel as they dismantle the Palestinian leadership that
> foments violence and fosters hate."
>
> House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., took a different tack when
> asked about U.S. policy toward Israel, saying he had advised Bush to
> exercise caution.
>
> "We don't want to jump into the middle of this," Hastert said during
> a political trip to Birmingham, Ala. "The best type of intervention
> is peaceful intervention, trying to get people to the table. I think
> that's what needs to be done."
>
> But DeLay said the United States should "drop the empty pretense that
> we can serve the region as a mere broker. Israel is resisting a
> campaign of death," and the United States must stand squarely against
> the terrorist organizations attacking Israel.
>
> DeLay's support for Bush follows a weekend during which three
> senators - a fellow Republican and two Democrats - said the president
> must try harder to stop the violence.
>
> "I think we need to move aggressively with the Arab countries, where
> we think the financing is coming from," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
>
> Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
> Committee, said, "I think there needs to be something dramatic done,
> and that means the president has to step up his involvement."
>
> And Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., demanded "much bolder moves" by the
> administration, saying Bush should send Secretary of State Colin
> Powell to the Middle East.