Word: delayed
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Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And sometimes, according to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a cigar is an economic prop to a brutal totalitarian regime. Arguing against loosening sanctions against Cuba last year, DeLay warned that Fidel Castro "will take the money. Every dime that finds its way into Cuba first finds its way into Fidel Castro's blood-thirsty hands.... American consumers will get their fine cigars and their cheap sugar, but at the cost of our national honor...
...DeLay has long been one of Congress' most vocal critics of what he calls Castro's "thugocracy," which is why some sharp-eyed TIME readers were surprised last week to see a photo of the Majority Leader smoking one of Cuba's best-a Hoyo de Monterrey double corona, which generally costs about $25 when purchased overseas and is not available in this country. The cigar's label clearly states that it was made in "Habana." The photo was taken in Jerusalem on July 28, 2003, during a meeting between DeLay and the Republican Jewish Coalition at the King David...
...DeLay's smoke may have run afoul of his principles, but it did not violate U.S. regulations at the time. However, it would now. Last September, the Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control tightened its prohibitions against U.S. citizens importing or consuming Cuban cigars. Even Americans licensed to bring back up to $100 worth of Cuban goods are no longer allowed to include tobacco products in what they carry. The regulation also noted that Americans are barred not only from purchasing Cuban goods in foreign countries, but also from consuming them in those countries...
Worse still, the tactics of Leahy, Harkin and others go far beyond what the GOP did under Clinton’s tenure. Republicans certainly did stall floor votes on nominees in ways that can only be described as undemocratic, but they never ventured beyond well-established delay procedures that majority parties have used for decades. By using the filibuster throughout Bush’s term, though, Democrats broke 214 years of tradition stipulating that only a majority vote was needed for confirmation. In fact, many current and former federal judges were approved with fewer than 60 votes...
Rain halted the tournament mid-way through yesterday afternoon, resulting in a two-and-a-half-hour delay...