Rangel, The Job Rotation, Peers, and Integrity in Washington

[WhiskeyGirl]

His role emerged after he was asked why he did not vote on the House resolution — ethics committee members typically vote "present." Among the news reports that the committee will pursue: that Rangel failed to report $75,000 in rental income on a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic and that he failed to disclose more than $500,000 in assets on his financial disclosure forms.

Why is Carter, a relative newcomer elected in 2002, taking on one of the most powerful lawmakers in Congress?

"How about we follow the rules?" said Carter. "I’ve been in the business of justice."

For more than 20 years, Carter meted out justice in Georgetown, and he said he was troubled by Rangel’s initial defense this year of his failure to pay taxes and to report on House financial disclosure forms of $75,000 in rental income from his Dominican Republic villa.

"He said he didn’t pay penalties or interest," Carter said. "I couldn’t believe he wasn’t paying penalties or interest. I said, 'I’m going to start looking at some of these guys.’ I spent 20 years of my life in a courtroom making sure people followed the rules."

There is an undeniable partisan element to the debate — Carter is secretary of the House Republican Conference. Asked why he did not pursue allegations of wrongdoing by Republicans, especially during the Jack Abramoff "pay to play" scandal, he said, "I was the new guy."

And he is not backing off of Rangel: "I think it’s embarrassing that he’s getting treated special."

http://www.star-telegram.com/texas/story/1676720.html

Pelosi recently made headlines with statements like 'Charlie is innocent until proven guilty...'

Who will try Charlie Rangel?  This fellow members of the House?  Congress?

Didn't someone in Congress suggest that many have made similar mistakes?

What about Tim?  The job rotation between the Federal Reserve, Treasury, Congress, Wall Street, and Washington? 

Freddie, Fannie, and Wall Street didn't collapse overnight.  If they did, why?

Didn't anyone publish honest reports showing the bad business being written and investigate?  Oops!!! Slap me in the head, no one read them.   

The only ones who seem to win are wealthy business people with million dollar bonuses, global corporations...cronyism, nepotism, favoritism, discrimination...

What value was the bailout to Main Street? 

Who will determine if Charlie is innocent?  Guilty?  A jury of folks who have the same taxing problems?

A jury of taxpayers?  Those who lost their retirement savings?  Education savings for their children?  The jobless?  Those watching the dollar collapse?

Swamp is to good a description.  Cesspool may be better.

What happened to honest dealings and integrity in Washington?

Maybe that's why all those folks in the White House sleep at night when hard working Americans lose their retirement security, savings, and homes.   

They live and work by special rules not available to Main Street.

jmho

[WhiskeyGirl]

In perhaps the most appalling display of “cronyism,” -- a word Pelosi herself used almost incessantly when Republicans were in power, -- she has allowed her good friend and political ally, Rep. Charlie Rangel to retain his powerful post as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. This, despite calls for him to step down from both sides of the aisle and a litany of unethical transgressions, including the following:

- Evading taxes on $1.3 million in income derived from multiple properties and failing to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars of assets and income.

- Accusations of taking a $1 million contribution to the Rangel Center at City College from a wealthy businessman who later got a lucrative tax break for his company.

-Accepting a Citigroup-funded trip to the Caribbean in November 2008, when the bank was bleeding the bailout funds dry.

I may be wrong, or misremembering...  Isn't Citigroup owned by the Saudi's?  And, the Saudi's want the US taxpayer out of the business?  Pressing the Treasury to sell it's stake?

- Unreported rental income from a vacation villa in the Dominican Republic that Rangel failed to acknowledge when filling out financial disclosure forms.

Instead of applying the same guidelines on impropriety that she did for the GOP, Pelosi has largely stayed mum, opting instead to duck, deny, and ignore the gravity of the situation in front of her. It's not surprising since this isn’t the first instance of her favoritism.

She’s also stuck by her closest congressional cohort, John Murtha, who is also facing an investigation into his misdeeds including no-bid contracts awarded to a nephew’s company and $38.1 million in earmarked appropriations for clients of the PMA Group which employs former Murtha staff members and contributed to his campaign.

I wonder how many folks could live at the Federal Poverty Level 'FPL' on this kind of forgotten money?

And still, there more! Despite finding photos of $90,000 in cash tucked inside containers of pie crust and Boca Burgers from an FBI raid on the freezer in Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson’s house, Pelosi tried to "gift" him (ironically) with a Homeland Security committee assignment. -- He would later be convicted of 11 counts of racketeering and bribery.

Where can I buy a pie crust with that kind of impact?  I'm still waiting for my billion dollar bailout.   

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/10/09/andrea-tantaros-pelosi-rangel-ethics-house/

[WhiskeyGirl]

Is this an example of change you can believe in?

Or, 'there is no hope and there is no change'...the new version of 'there is no trust, and the fund is empty'?