ouse Majority Whip Tom Delay (R-Tex.) came out swinging yesterday during a speech to the National Press Club, and denounced what he described as a "cultural coup d'etat by the fashionable elite." He charged that leading institutions -- the news media, academic institutions, nonprofit foundations, the legal and even artistic communities -- were all waging a concerted "guerilla assault ... on our nation's founding principles."

   "The American people are trying to resist a cultural coup d'etat -- a revolution launched by the privileged few who are determined to discredit and, ultimately, replace core American traditions."

   He denounced "what one historian calls the morality of the cool... (which) teaches that flag-burning and nude dancing are protected speech, but prayer before a football game is not."

   DeLay added that the "elite" disdain religious belief, noting that public surveys indicate that huge numbers of Americans believe in God and that nearly 60% attend church or synagogue services at least once a month, contrasted with only 19% for professional journalists, and 13% for those working in the movie industry.

   The GOP leader predicted that if George W. Bush is elected president and the party maintains control on capitol hill, sympathetic lawmakers would then launch "a very aggressive counterattack" aimed at those who defend the separation of church and state, and seek to limit religious expression in the public square. DeLay also called for anti - religious discrimination measures in public funding bills, which would allow the Roman Catholic school system to received government money, and permit religious groups to contract with state agencies in order to administer faith-based social services.

   "What we need is simply a return to the healthy appreciation for religion that has always sustained the nation. Government can't enforce religious teachings or doctrines of specific faiths. But at the same time, federal power must not be distorted into a wedge that splits the vast majority of Americans from the sacred ideals that guide their lives."

   Critics, including House Democrats, immediately responded, suggesting that DeLay's outburst demonstrated an extremist agenda.

   Fellow Texas Rep. Martin Frost charged, "No matter how desperately GOP strategists seek a more 'compassionate' face for their political party, Tom DeLay's obsession with leading the Republican Congress in another partisan culture war always exposes the real heart and soul of the Republican leadership." He added, "DeLay's message -- give Republicans the political power to impose our narrow cultural and ideological 'world view' upon all Americans -- is as brazen as it is frightening."

   Breaking with some in the religious conservative movement, Mr. DeLay praised President Clinton for seeking to normalize relations with China. Many on the religious right have criticized China for its violations of religious freedom and crackdown on Christian groups, and even the Buddhist-new age Falun Gong movement. The House Whip suggested that increased trade would promote Christianity, though, declaring, "I'm very excited about exporting American values to China."

   While denouncing Washington insiders and an amorphous "cultural elite," though, DeLay found himself in legal trouble after being hit with a RICO racketeering lawsuit filed yesterday by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Patrick Kennedy (R.I.) The action charges DeLay and several organization with "massive illegal conduct," and even extortion and money laundering. Word of the suit broke in the capitol hill paper "Roll Call" and later in The New York Times and The Washington Post.

   The suit is the third legal effort in the past year to curb DeLay's aggressive fundraising operation which pundits refer to as "DeLay Inc."

   "Mr. DeLay is unfortunately conducting these activities under the color of his office," Kennedy said. "He seeks through the use of systematic extortion to coerce the contribution of millions of dollars to Republicans and intimidate those inclined to support Democrats."

   Indeed, the Whip has become one of the most successful fund-raisers on the hill. While he denounced foundations and political non-profits during yesterday's speech, "The Challenge of Cultural Renewal," DeLay has links on his official web site to an array of foundations and political action groups including Christian Coalition, American Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, Family Research Council, Eagle Forum and the National Right to Life Committee.

   The RICO suit, though, targets a secondary layer of little-known PACS or "political action committees" which seem to exist in the subterranean world of insider fundraising. The DCCC charges that DeLay "extorted" monies through donors, and funneled them through a network of groups like Americans for Economic Growth, U.S. Family Network, and the Republican Majority Issues Committee.

   "By raising and spending these monies through organizations he substantially or completely controls or directs," Kennedy told a news conference yesterday, "Mr. DeLay hopes to carry out his scheme without public knowledge."

   Most of the groups mentioned in the RICO charges, such as U.S. Family Network, are set up as 501(c)(4) corporations which according to "Roll Call" must reveal the total amount of money raised, but not the origin of the funds. The Republican Majority Issues Committee, another DeLay-affiliated PAC, has a budget estimated at $25 million to spend on the year 2000 elections.

   The paper noted that "Several of the organizations" mentioned in the suit "were all housed in the same Capitol Hill townhouse until recently."

   According to the DCCC, DeLay's office and organizations pursued three goals including threatening Democratic backers by asserting "they would not receive favorable treatment by (a) Republican majority in Congress" unless they "severed" ties with the Democrats and began funding the new PACs. DeLay and his allies also sought "to remove the sources and destination of those funds from public view" by establishing a Byzantine network of PACS and other instruments, and tried to bully contributors to directly fund GOP campaigns.

   While coverage of DeLay's bombastic NPC talk yesterday competed with the stories about the RICO lawsuit, on the hill the Senate continued debate over refunding the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). That measure includes a number of provisions which, if enacted, further threaten to violate the separation of church and state by directing government funds into the coffers of sectarian groups -- all in keeping with DeLay's proposal to boost the subsidizing of "faith-based" social outreaches.

   A version of ESEA is also being debated in the House of Representatives as H.R. 4141. It states that anti-drug and anti-violence programs in schools should incorporate "protective factors" including "a student feeling connected to parents and family and practicing religion and prayer." Section 4147 would permit states "to provide grants to or to contract with religious organizations on the same basis as any other nongovernmental provider without impairing the religious character of such organizations, and without diminishing the religious freedom f beneficiaries of assistance funded other such program."

   Critics charge that these provisions would permit sectarian groups to receive taxpayer money for social service outreaches, and still incorporate a faith-based approach in their programs.

   Even the issue of school prayer has been dragged into the House version. Section 14510 calls upon the federal government to stop funds "to any State or local education agency which has a policy of denying, or which effectively prevents participation in, constitutionally protected prayer in public schools by individuals on a voluntary basis." Department of Education guidelines already offer such protections for students wishing to practice their religion in voluntary settings, but warn against coercive religious ritual in the classroom or official school events.

   Even before the November elections, it appears that Mr. DeLay's new culture war "offensive" is underway. If successful, millions of Americans who have no religious beliefs will be forced to pick up the tab.

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