Big Buy: Tom Delay's Stolen Congress

In 1984, Tom DeLay was first elected to Congress as a Republican representative from Sugar Land, Texas. DeLay wasted little time making his presence known in the House of Representatives, and earned the nickname "the Hammer" for his forceful style of insuring his GOP colleagues voted as party leaders wanted, and for his habit of making life difficult for those who opposed him. DeLay became the House Majority Leader in 2002, and made no secret of his opposition to many major government programs (he said it was his goal to eliminate the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, among other things) and his support of big business. A large number of major corporations courted DeLay's support, and DeLay did not forget those who helped him. However, DeLay's desire to help his wealthy associates led to a major scandal in 2005 when he was indicted by a grand jury in Texas, led by district attorney Ronnie Earle, on charges of criminal conspiracy to violate election laws after the discovery of evidence linking DeLay to money laundering and diverting illegal political contributions to his PACs. The Big Buy: How Tom DeLay Stole Congress is an activist documentary which examines DeLay's rise to power, his controversial style and methods, Earle's campaign against him, and the struggle to remove corporate influence from Congress.