Tom Delay to headline Charles Taylor Holiday Dinner

Press release from organizers of the Charles Taylor Holiday Dinner:

“The Hammer” to Headline Annual
Charles Taylor Holiday Dinner

Former Republican House Majority Leader Tom Delay will be the honored guest at this year’s annual Charles Taylor Holiday Dinner. The 22nd annual Charles Taylor Holiday Dinner will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, December 12 at the Expo Center at the Crowne Plaza Resort in Asheville. Former Congressman Delay represented Texas’s 22nd congressional district from 1985 until 2006. In 2006, a highly partisan democrat district attorney in Texas charged Delay with illegal campaign contributions. The same district attorney’s office indicted Republican Texas Governor Rick Perry on two felony charges of abuse of power for threatening to veto an appropriations bill, which the Governor had full constitutional power to do.  The D.A., knowing that Republican rules, unlike Democrat rules in the House, required the Republicans who were indicted to resign from their House position, used the indictment to force Delay from his leadership position. The prosecution was delayed for almost 9 years before the case was heard by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. This fall, the highest court in this matter ruled 8 to 2 that Delay should not have been prosecuted and that he violated no laws.

The district attorney was later defeated in a statewide race, and no longer serves as District Attorney. Delay’s indictment, along with selective IRS actions against proven Tea Party education funds, providing guns to Mexican criminals with the resulting death of a U.S. border patrol agent, and falsifying veteran records with hundreds of denials and deaths of veterans are examples where ignoring the law and Constitutional rights to perpetuate themselves in power abuses the American people in a way never seen before in this nation. This abuse of power was also one of the things that brought out the recent overwhelming rejection of a party and officials which so purposefully abused the people. The landmark decision affirmed Delay’s contention that the charges were not only unjustified but politically motivated. DeLay’s ironclad control of the House of Representatives was legendary and earned him the nickname, “The Hammer.” He will be joined by North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, newly elected North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, and other local, state and federal office-holders.

Taylor has been hosting the annual holiday dinners for more than two decades to give Western North Carolina residents an opportunity to hear from the state’s leading Gubernatorial, Congressional and Presidential candidates. Delay will be joined by North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, newly elected North Carolina U.S. Senator Thom Tillis, and other elected officials.

In addition to the dinner, there will also be a separate, private reception beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Mt. Mitchell Suite, where those attending will get an opportunity to meet and have a photo taken with Delay and the other speakers.

Tickets for the 22nd annual Charles Taylor Holiday Dinner are $50 per person if purchased before December 8. After December 9, the ticket cost will be $55 per person. Reservations must be made prior to the dinner. Tickets to attend the private reception are $150 per person and include admission to the dinner.  Checks should be made out to “Charles Taylor Christmas Dinner” and mailed to: Charles Taylor, PO Box 7587, Asheville, NC  28802.  For more information please contact Trish Smothers at (828) 243-2187 or tasmothers@yahoo.com.  A limited number of rooms at a discounted rate are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. To reserve one of these discounted rooms, call the Crowne Plaza Resort at 828-254-3211.