BONUS look back at Rep. Charlie Rangel. Remember when he called VP candidate Sara Palin "Disabled"? Nice, huh?
Back to the article. I am so disgusted, words fail me. "DISCLOSURE PROBLEMS"?? That's how our Congress refers to powerful members cheating on their taxes?? Now I know how Timmy Geithner, the tax cheat, was confirmed to head up the Treasury Department, and thus the IRS. Check this out:
Many members" of Congress suffer from the same disclosure issues as Rep. Charles Rangel (D.N.Y.), one of his allies said Wednesday.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) downplayed the seriousness of allegations against Rangel that he failed to disclose sources of income and pay taxes on some properties, saying that many lawmakers suffer from innocent lapses in judgment when filing mandatory financial disclosure forms.
"I want to tell you, there are many members who, if you go back over all of their records, over all of the years, you're going to find that there were disclosures that were not made," Waters said during an appearance on MSNBC Wednesday morning.
Republicans are seeking to force Rangel from his position as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee by offering a privileged resolution from Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) to mandate Rangel step aside.
If it is truly only Republicans, that does not speak well for Democrats, in my opinion. Why wouldn't they be concerned that the most powerful member of the House Ways and Means Committee, the very committee that set tax law, did not pay his taxes?? Is it just me? At least as far as Rep. Waters is concerned, it appears so:
Waters defended Rangel, saying the Harlem congressman is making an effort to correct the records and pay his debts.
"What happens is, unfortunately with the requirements for disclosure that we all have, mistakes are made," she said. "And you do get a chance to correct them. And so it looks as if he is correcting those mistakes."
Waters said that Rangel should not step down from his chairmanship, but should continue working until ethics investigations into his finances have concluded.
Only after he was CAUGHT. It isn't like he just failed to adequately report taxes one time. No, it was under-reporting some years, and failure to report at all other years. It is behavior that, if perpetrated by someone NOT in Congress (or the Secretary of the Treasury) would land them with a ton of fines at the LEAST. But when it's the person actually writing the tax laws, the message is clear: "These laws apply to thee, not to me." Evidently. And, with the perk of getting backup from the very people who SHOULD be holding them accountable. All I can say is, there oughta be a law. Oh, wait...
And what is this BS about "the rules for disclosure"?? How about having a CPA do your taxes, or use TurboTax or something! It isn't like Rangel, and most of these Congresspeople can't afford to have someone do their taxes for them. Sheesh.
Can you imagine using that excuse with the IRS? Yeah, they'd be laughing at you all the way to your jail cell.
Have the Democrats always this corrupt, or have they ratcheted that up recently? Maybe they always were, and they are just being more blatant about it now? I don't see how anyone could listen to Rep. Waters "everybody's doing it!" defense as anything else but corrupt when talking about the most powerful person setting tax law repeatedly cheating on his taxes. But that could just be me...
6 comments:
You know, politics has become such a joke, there's no such thing as "rule of law" or "ethics" anymore. I'm sure there was always graft in politics, I'm not naive. But now it's so open, and it's being accepted as the norm in society. Voters just don't get it...just because someone has a "D" behind their name does not mean they give a flying fig about the truth or the law. They care about power and how much they can line their pockets before they retire....and it doesn't matter if it's legal or not. The law is for suckers as far as they're concerned.
(Ooo! My moderation letters for today is "lookers". Does that mean I'm being watched or I'm looking pretty spiffy with my haircut and dye job today?) :-D
No, it's not just you. This is infuriating.
No doubt you are looking spiffy with your new 'do! Is that in anticipation of your brother's visit? :-)
And remember when Democrats were furious that the Republicans might do something like the "Nuclear Option"? And what are the Dems threatening to do now? Well, that, AND Harry Reid is considering adding the health care bill to a bill that has ALREADY PASSED the House. Can you believe THAT?
And that's the thing - like hiring someone like Tim Geithner - the wolf to watch the hen house - someone who committed tax fraud is now in charge of the entire IRS, not to mention all the money. How the hell can that BE??
That is all to say, I think you're right, Nunly - it has become brazen, and with some arrogance, I might add. They know nothing is going to happen to them. I guess that can't just have enough personal integrity to not commit the wrongs in the FIRST place...
Thanks, C - glad to know it isn't just me. I still can't get over it. It isn't like this tax issue is the FIRST problem with Rangel. He's been pulling "stunts" like this for some time now (he got a loan for his family house in Harlem that was SUPPOSED to be for low income people. There were other issues with it, too, but I'm too tired to remember them all right now. But I am sure you get the gist...
Hi Amy-
I was watching one of the cable news stations today and some bozo was defending Charlie Rangel and saying that he was being targeted by the Republicans and what he did was no big deal and besides, she said, the Republicans are just as bad. The guy interviewing (can't remember who it was) said, "Well, didn't the Democrats say that if they were elected they would bring change to Washington?" Bingo. I was so glad to hear someone in the media jump on that. I'm hoping that the era of softball questions are over for Obama and the Dems.
You have got to be kidding me. What is it with this juvenile, "well, THEY did it!" Yes, and we all screamed how WRONG it was! Rangel is a REPEAT offender as a tax cheat! It was MULTIPLE years, and thousands and thousands of dollars! How is that not a big deal?
It is that kind of thing that makes me cringe that I was SO, so invested as a Democrat before, you know?
GOOD for the interviewer for asking the question! Yay! That's a step, right?
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