WaPo sez: Rangel need to step aside...poster child for hypocrisy

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He's the worst choice for the position.
 
Yeah, and on the Ways and Means, too.

Gee, I can actually hear crickets now.
 
Mr. Rangel's amended financial disclosure form, which exposes omissions from his 2002 through 2006 records, is a treasure trove of outrage. He neglected to report a checking account with the Congressional Federal Credit Union and one with Merrill Lynch, each valued between $250,000 and $500,000; the tens of thousands of dollars he's earning from dividends from a number of mutual funds and stocks; and the money made from the sale of a Harlem townhouse. As a result, Mr. Rangel's reported net worth doubled, from between $516,015 and $1,316,000 to between $1,028,024 and $2,495,000.
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source is Washington Post.

He appears to be some corrupted Democrat who failed to report some of his assets.

I think this is part of Kokonut's war to discredit Democrats. Corruption is not party specific.
 
I've stated here and elsewhere, any Congress members who abuse their priviledges and do not abide by our tax laws and reporting requirements, and any conflict of interest involving money or assets to curry personal favors should be punished in accordance to the law or at the very minimum lose their seat. That means anybody in Congress. The president, too.

Can you say the same thing? About Rangel, too?

It is very interesting that people don't condemn what Rangel did and on the surface you seem to condone his actions and that he shouldn't be prosecuted or at least he should not resign his Chairman of the House on the Ways and Means committee.

Man, what people do to avoid criticizing. Even if it's one of their own.
 
netrox said:
who's he? and why should I care?
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He is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees complex U.S. tax policy, and yet he was "unaware" of his own tax liabilities, and has been involved in real estate deals of questionable ethics. He is accused of tax evasion.

You should care because he has a lot of influence over the taxes you pay.
 
deafskeptic said:
source is Washington Post.

He appears to be some corrupted Democrat who failed to report some of his assets.

I think this is part of Kokonut's war to discredit Democrats. Corruption is not party specific.
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Rangel did it to himself. Kokonut had nothing to do with Rangel's actions. Kokonut only shared the information with ADers. Corruption is not party specific but Rangel's financial troubles are important to know about because of his position as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

We do want to know what's happening in our government and to our money, don't we?
 
Here's an editorial that summarizes the problem:
Ever notice that those who endorse high taxes and those who actually pay them aren’t the same people? Consider the curious case of Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, who is leading the charge for a new 5.4-percentage point income tax surcharge and recently called it “the moral thing to do.” About his own tax liability he seems less, well, fervent.

Exhibit A concerns a rental property Mr. Rangel purchased in 1987 at the Punta Cana Yacht Club in the Dominican Republic. The rental income from that property ought to be substantial since it is a luxury beach-front villa and is more often than not rented out. But when the National Legal and Policy Center looked at Mr. Rangel’s House financial disclosure forms in August, it noted that his reported income looked suspiciously low. In 2004 and 2005, he reported no more than $5,000, and in 2006 and 2007 no income at all from the property.

The Congressman initially denied there was any unreported income. But reporters quickly showed that the villa is among the most desirable at Punta Cana and that it rents for $500 a night in the low season, and as much as $1,100 a night in peak season. Last year it was fully booked between December 15 and April 15.

Mr. Rangel soon admitted having failed to report rental income of $75,000 over the years. First he blamed his wife for the oversight because he said she was supposed to be managing the property. Then he blamed the language barrier. “Every time I thought I was getting somewhere, they’d start speaking Spanish,” Mr. Rangel explained.

Mr. Rangel promised last fall to amend his tax returns, pay what is due and correct the information on his annual financial disclosure form. But the deadline for the 2008 filing was May 15 and as of last week he still had not filed. His press spokesman declined to answer questions about anything related to his ethics problems.

Besides not paying those pesky taxes, Mr. Rangel had other reasons for wanting to hide income. As the tenant of four rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem, the Congressman needed to keep his annual reported income below $175,000, lest he be ineligible as a hardship case for rent control. (He also used one of the apartments as an office in violation of rent-control rules, but that’s another story.)

Mr. Rangel said last fall that “I never had any idea that I got any income’’ from the villa. Try using that one the next time the IRS comes after you. Equally interesting is his claim that he didn’t know that the developer of the Dominican Republic villa had converted his $52,000 mortgage to an interest-free loan in 1990. That would seem to violate House rules on gifts, which say Members may only accept loans on “terms that are generally available to the public.” Try getting an interest-free loan from your banker.

The National Legal and Policy Center also says it has confirmed that Mr. Rangel owned a home in Washington from 1971-2000 and during that time claimed a “homestead” exemption that allowed him to save on his District of Columbia property taxes. However, the homestead exemption only applies to a principal residence, and the Washington home could not have qualified as such since Mr. Rangel’s rent-stabilized apartments in New York have the same requirement.

The House Ethics Committee is investigating Mr. Rangel on no fewer than six separate issues, including his failure to report the no-interest loan on his Punta Cana villa and his use of rent-stabilized apartments. It is also investigating his fund raising for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York. New York labor attorney Theodore Kheel, one of the principal owners of the Punta Cana resort, is an important donor to the Rangel Center.

All of this has previously appeared in print in one place or another, and we salute the reporters who did the leg work. We thought we’d summarize it now for readers who are confronted with the prospect of much higher tax bills, and who might like to know how a leading Democrat defines “moral” behavior when the taxes hit close to his homes.
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Rangel under tax evasion investigations while promoting income surtax - WSJ.com
 
Reba said:
Rangel did it to himself. Kokonut had nothing to do with Rangel's actions. Kokonut only shared the information with ADers. Corruption is not party specific but Rangel's financial troubles are important to know about because of his position as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

We do want to know what's happening in our government and to our money, don't we?
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While I agree with what you have said and I agree that he should step down considering the facts, I am also under the impression that Kokonut is trying to discredit the party as a whole.
 
deafskeptic said:
While I agree with what you have said and I agree that he should step down considering the facts, I am also under the impression that Kokonut is trying to discredit the party as a whole.
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I try to focus on the facts of the posts and not judge the motivations of the posters. :)

There's enough dirt around to sully all parties. :(
 
Charlie Rangel was a war hero in Korea. This is what 30+ years in power does to a once honorable man. It's true that power corrupts and no side is immune. Why anybody would want to trust these walking punchlines with more power and more control is beyond me.
 
What's mind boggling as well is when people ignore this as being no big deal. Can't even criticize their own party when it's obvious what Rangel did was dumb and irresponsible, and he does not deserve that position.
 
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