Charles B. Rangel allegedly accepted corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008 and he has subsequently been admonished by the House ethics committee. However, the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, did not issue findings in its continuing inquiries into more serious matters concerning Mr. Rangel’s fund-raising, his failure to pay federal taxes on rental income from a Dominican villa, and his use of four rent-stabilized apartments provided by a Manhattan real estate developer.
Congressman Charlie Rangel is the powerful Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, a post formerly held by Republican Bill Thomas of Bakersfield, CA. To put Rangel’s sins in their proper perspective, it should be noted that every member of the House and Senate, to a certain extent, pushes the envelope in terms of what is proper or legal. Like an orange traffic light that is neither green nor red, congressional ethics rules have a broadly-defined "gray area" in which members frequently trespass for political, if not personal gain.
Interestingly enough, Rangel is the heir to the political position once held by Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., who had plenty of problems of his own despite a admirable record of legislative accomplishments.
In my opinion, and as a matter of principle, Charlie Rangel should step down from his chairmanship at the earliest opportunity. One would think, that after the Abramoff affair that undermined the GOP’s dominance, Dems would know better than to expose themselves to ethics charges. But sometimes Congress is like an all-you-can-eat restaurant. Rangel is no stranger to consumption in this regard.
Bill Thomas was the Republican Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee from 2001 to 2006. Thomas announced on March 6, 2006, that he would not seek reelection, retiring after 28 years in the House. Thomas claimed at the time that a major influence on his decision was the internal GOP term limits that would require him to relinquish his Ways and Means chairmanship even if he were re-elected. But the real reason is more salacious. It turns out that Thomas, a married man, was carrying on an adulterous affair with Deborah Steelman, a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry at the same time Thomas was drafting language for the Medicare Prescription Benefit legislation – you know, the donut hole thingy. Ms. Steelman was alleged to have consulted on the draft language, which, in reality, means that she personally wrote it at the behest of her corporate masters. Not only did this affair cost Thomas his marriage and respect from constituents, but he was facing a looming ethics investigation and was about to be thrown under the bus by his GooPer pals.
I will leave it to those better informed than myself to gauge whether Rangel’s indiscretions are on a par with those of Thomas. But to those who say that Dems and GooPers are equally corrupt, Rangel has only given them more ammunition to substantiate their claims.
p.s. Bill Thomas was succeeded by the smarmy Kevin McCarthy, a pretty-boy, know-nothing. Let's hope we can replace Rangel with a man or woman of substance.