Morals and values…? They’re certainly not mine.

When Republican operatives aren’t busy stealing elections, they’re apparently occupied robbing Native Americans.

Jack Abramoff, a fundraiser for the Bush/Cheney campaign, and Michael Scanlon, former press aid to Tom DeLay (now where have we heard that name before) are under investigation by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. These two apparently took a number of tribes to the cleaners to the tune of around $66million with promises of access and influence in Congress.

A case in point is that of the Tigua Indians. Their casino was closed down after a successful anti-gambling campaign was waged in Texas. Heavily involved in this campaign was Ralph Reed. Scanlon and Abramoff paid Reed $2.4 million for his involvement. After the Casino was closed down, Scanlon and Abramoff went to the tribe, claiming to be their saviors. They convinced tribal leaders that they had sufficient influence with both Dubbyuh and DeLay to get the restrictions on gambling in Texas lifted. Of course, there was a price tag attached…$4.2 million in fees as well as several hundred thousand dollars in political contributions.

Tigua representatives told the Senate Committee that Scanlon and Abramoff would be able to get Representative Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and Senator Christopher Dodd, D-Conn, on board. Ney’s assistance came at the price of $32,000 to campaign fund raising groups he supported. Ney inserted language into the election reform bill that would have authorized the re-opening of the Tiguas casino. That particular bill failed.

Opponents of campaign finance reform say that there is no demonstrable quid pro quo between campaign contributions and legislative action. And while the language inserted by Representative Ney and the bill that contained it ultimately failed, there is a demonstrable link between the campaign contributions and the legislative action here.

The irony of the revelation of these activities is that the perpetrators have ties to both the Bush White House and to Tom DeLay. And this in an election that was decided on the apparent moral superiority of the Republicans. Well, hypocrisy is as hypocrisy does, and morals and values are obviously meaningless to this administration unless, of course, they refer to the moral short-comings of their opponents.