Social service officials in the area said Rio Bend holds promise for helping some foster kids. "This is really unique," said Sam Sipes, president of Lutheran Social Services, the largest provider in Texas of residential services for foster children. His group will screen and place kids at Rio Bend. "The idea behind Rio Bend is it would be a permanent placement for a child," Sipes said. The lack of a consistent home and a supportive community is a serious drawback for the current foster care system in Fort Bend County, which Rio Bend would work to correct. "Those kids typically get bounced from foster family to foster family," and often show up at a new foster home with all their belongings in a trash bag, Sipes said. He said the families will be required to pay rent to live in the 4,000-square-foot homes with seven bedrooms, but it will be far below the market rate.

Typical of DeLay's ethical controversies, even the long-awaited construction at Rio Bend comes with a subplot. The construction company at Rio Bend is Perry Homes. Perry Homes is run by Bob Perry, a major financier of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Jenkins said Perry will be paid $26 million if all the construction at Rio Bend goes forward. A Perry spokesman told the Times that he was building the homes at cost. Perry has also donated $44,000 to DeLay and one of his political action committees over the last three election cycles, according an analysis of campaign-finance data for Salon by the Center for Responsive Politics. Perry also donated another $10,000 to DeLay's legal defense fund, DeLay's personal financial-disclosure reports show.

The DeLay Foundation's fundraising is not the first time the congressman's charitable work has come under scrutiny. After some unflattering press, DeLay scuttled a charity event dubbed "Celebrations for Children" that had been set for the Republican National Convention last summer. Bad publicity for the event focused on late parties, yacht cruises and gatherings with lawmakers in luxury suites for donors willing to fork over a half million dollars. The money was supposed to go to the DeLay Foundation for Kids. DeLay's spokesman, Dan Allen, told me that the Celebrations for Children charity is dormant.

Charity fundraising among politicians is bipartisan, of course. Arkansas Democrat Sen. Blanche Lincoln was set to host "Rockin' on the Dock of the Bay" at the Democratic Convention in Boston last summer. Donors were asked to pony up as much as $100,000 to hang out with Democrats at the event, meant to benefit the National Childhood Cancer Foundation. It too was called off after bad publicity. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist also raised a few eyebrows in the nonprofit world by raising money for his AIDS-related World of Hope charity from donors at a gala during the Republican National Convention.

Some political observers worry that the end of such events -- helping kids -- is not necessarily justified by the means -- politicians hobnobbing with corporate donors -- which can look like a degradation of the political process, typical as such networking is in Washington. While charity fundraising can certainly accomplish good things for good causes, critics say the blending of politics, money and charity is a bad mix. "I think charitable activity is great," said Fred Lewis, president of Campaigns for People, a nonpartisan nonprofit group seeking to ease what he says is the sway of special interests in Texas politics. "But it appears to me that political leaders are getting involved so they can get the good glow from being part of charitable giving, and the corporations are giving for access and influence. I think it is bad for charities and bad for the political process."

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