It has been a hard few months for those of us who admire Charlie Rangel, a Purple Heart and Bronze Star winner for his heroism in Korea, a co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus, the fourth-longest serving Democrat in the House and one who has used that tenure for the benefit of the people of Harlem and for liberal causes generally.
[One example I didn't know before today? In 1987, at the height of the battle against South Africa's apartheid regime, Rangel led the fight that denied corporations tax credits for taxes paid to South Africa. This measure led to Mobil and several other Fortune 500 companies leaving South Africa, increasing the pressure on Pretoria.]
Problem is, these days, that he has also used that tenure to benefit himself. A brief review of his recent woes is troubling:
- He controls four rent-controlled apartments in his Harlem building (two of which were combined before he got there), paying less than half the market rates, and until recently used one of the units as his campaign headquarters. Some have argued that his landlord's allowing him to have so many reduced-rate apartments violates the limits on gifts to Members, or the ban on in-kind contributions.
- Claiming "cultural and language barriers," Rangel owes thousands in back taxes on rental income from a villa he owns at a swank (is there any other kind?) resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. He also failed to declare this income on many Congressional disclosure forms.
- And the one fans of Lawrence Lessig's talk at Netroots Nation will remember: the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College, which will also house his papers and is all well and good -- except for the fact that not only is it being funded via a $1.9M Congressional earmark and two HUD grants, but he is soliciting money for the Center from corporations and business leaders with interests before Ways & Means on Congressional stationery, and as Lessig says, this sort of thing destroys the conditions upon which trust is built as to the basis for his official decisionmaking.
For all this, our friends at CREW have begrudgingly
added Rangel to its annual list of the twenty most corrupt members of Congress, and the organization has more specifics on his potential violations
in this PDF report.
The NYT has called on Cong. Rangel to cede temporarily his Chairmanship of Ways & Means, saying "Committee posts are not bestowed by voters. They are partisan privileges granted by leaders in Congress, and Ms. Pelosi must not cut slack for an ally. If Mr. Rangel refuses a temporary hiatus from his chairmanship, Ms. Pelosi should remove him permanently."
What are we in the Netroots to say about all this? First off, this is not an Al Wynn situation in which primarying the incumbent might bear fruit. As a well-placed NY politico friend put it to me,
Unless Charlie dies or resigns you might as well forget primarying him. He is beloved in his district. He has excellent constituent service. He brought empowerment zones to Harlem, he has brought money; he brought Bill Clinton's office to 125th St. and that brought more money. He is chairman of Ways and Means...and the community knows how much that matters to Harlem.
I should say that unlike Towns or Meeks or Wynn, Charlie is a populist and a progressive... as much as you can be as chair of Ways and Means. He doesn't vote against his community's interests as they do. He is also tireless and everywhere.
Speaking only for myself here, I too think that Cong. Rangel should probably cede his chair while the investigation is ongoing. I am particularly troubled by the last item -- using his leverage as Committee chair to raise funds for a Center being named for himself. It speaks of vanity, arrogance and an abuse of power that are just so unlike the cranky, exuberant, beloved liberal I've gotten to watch over the years.
[I recognize that there's a political tightrope here -- would Rangel stepping down just boost GOP efforts to paint Dems are corrupt, or since they're trying it already does it cauterize the wound? I don't think this is a Mark Foley-level controversy that captivates the public and hurts us generally, so the only question is, what's the right thing to do?]
Beyond that, I think Cong. Rangel at this point would be well-served to continue to honor the maxim of his lawyer, Lanny Davis -- yes, that Lanny Davis -- who subtitled his primer on political spin "Tell It Early, Tell It All, Tell It Yourself." And Rangel's certainly talking, and within the limits of his cantankerousness, admitting fault and demanding full investigations to confirm (he hopes) no wrongdoing. I hope he fully cooperates with every inquiry and every investigation, accepts the consequences and, when it is appropriate, end his distinguished tenure in public service with dignity, good humor and grace.