Charlie Rangel convicted of 11 ethics violations
Tax Cheat
Charlie Rangel has finally been convicted of 11 out of the 13 ethics violations–from tax evasion to accepting illegal gifts–that he had been charged with after what seems like years of investigations into his many dubious actions. Now the Ethics Committee must reconvene to decide what his punishment will be.
More than likely, Charlie Rangel will either be reprimanded or censured–neither of which would require him to step down from his seat in the Congress. It is highly unlikely that the Ethics Committee will recommend his expulsion from the Congress. This leads me to wonder: if a man can commit as many flagrant ethics violations while sitting in the Congress as did Charlie Rangel, and his only punishment will be a slap on the wrist, what does a congressman have to do in order to be expelled?
Charlie Rangel was entrusted by his constituents to act on their behalf and he used this trust for his own benefit, there isn’t a crime that a politician could commit against his constituents that is more serious than that. Yet he faces a minor slap on the wrist, while his constituents get a slap in the face.
If Charlie Rangel is allowed to sit in the Congress, his light sentence will only embolden others to also abuse the system. Charlie Rangel should be used as an example to all of the new incoming congressman to show them what will happen to them if they do not adhere to the ethics rules. But a light sentence will show potential violators that the Congress doesn’t take the issue of ethics seriously. A light sentence will make the payoff worth the gamble if all that the punishment will be–if they are caught–is a slap on the wrist.
Charlie Rangel should do the honorable thing; he should hold a press conference and announce that he let his constituents down and because of this he should announce that he is resigning. If he fails to so this than it is up to Nancy Pelosi to push him into retirement.
Nancy Pelosi assumed the powerful Speaker of the House position with a promise to “drain the swamp” of the corruption in Washington, but as we can see, the swamp only festered under her leadership. Nancy Pelosi is the poster child of the failures in the Democrat party that led to the Republican take over in the House, and Charlie Rangel is the poster boy of everything that is wrong in Washington.
Charlie Rangel still insists that he did nothing wrong, and you know what? Maybe he honestly believes that he did nothing wrong, but even so this does not excuse him from his behavior. He has been in the Congress for so long, and he has been accustomed to getting what he wants, so the line between ethical and unethical behavior has been blurred to the point where he cannot tell right from wrong. Charlie Rangel is part of the “business as usual” Washington DC culture that Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi promised to change. It is time for a change, and Charlie Rangel needs to be part of that change.
America's Watchtower 
They used to say that you could recover from anything but getting caught with a dead girl or a live boy…
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The dead girl didn’t hurt Ted Kennedy, although the live boy did hurt Mark Foley. Even though it turned out the boy was actually not underage as the media protrayed it.
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I wish you were right, but think Rangel will only get a slap on the wrist and perhaps a fine.
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I don’t even think he will get a fine, but I hope so. He should have to at least pay back a little of the money that he received illegally.
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@steve – You said – “what does a congressman have to do in order to be expelled?”
Apparently, not resign first. James Traficant was the last scumbag to be officially expelled from the Congress, in 2002. He was convicted of 10 counts of bribery, racketeering and tax evasion.
Ole Charlie has him beat by one count, so hopefully we can see him follow the coat-tails of the honorable Jailbird Jimmy.
If I had to place odds on that happening, I would say no. Hence the speedy hearing. They want to get all this over in the lame-duck while the Dems still hold the majority.
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I agree, the Dems made sure this trial ended during the lame duck session in order to ensure that Rangel’s punishment was a light as possible.
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I will consider it a miracle if Rangel comes away with anything more than a sore wrist out of this. It is clear Rangel and his type of politician operates by a completely different set of rules than we do. It’s not right and it isn’t fair, but it seems to be the reality, at least for the time being.
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It certainly is the reality. The truth is that many of them have been living by different rules for a long time now. The American people are sick of this type of double standard and we let them know this on November 2nd. This is exactly thte type pf behavior that Americans are fed up with.
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This may be it for old Charlie. The problem is, his type exists in political offices around the world and I’m only surprised we haven’t seen more American politicians hauled before a panel and judged.
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Maybe we will in the future, it is well beyond time for this to end!
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I would be really surprised to see him get anything more than a slap on the wrist. This is why people are losing faith in the system. This is why people have very little confidence in Congress.
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So true John, this is one reason why so many people are cynical when it comes to our government, people simply do not believe anything will change. And in Rangel’s case it looks like nothing has.
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Okay guys. Help me here. Is this not now an impeachable offense?
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I don’t think we would see impeachment here with the Democrats still in control of the House, but even after the new Congress is seated I don’t think they would have enough votes to impeach him. The constitution is vague on who can be impeached, it mentions the president and VP but after that it only says other civil officers can be impeached. Judges have been impeached as other civil officers, but I am not sure that the Congress would be willing to take on this fight. (Especially when they could be on the hot seat if precedent is set here.)
I guess in the end the people of New York should have “impeached” him with their vote on November 2nd, but they decided he should return. I just don’t get it.
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He’ll probably get fined, but since he claims he has no money now the likelihood that he will actually have to pay is slim. He got away with it.
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Now that is something I hadn’t thought about, perhaps he is crying about poverty now so as to avoid a fine as punishment.
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Hey Steve, good stuff as always. I’ve been thinking about this clip in light of school administrators but what the heck, let’s make this a tribute to poor ol’ Charlie Rangel.
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I’ll second that! That is my favorite commercial, I laugh every time I see it!
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I rarely comment on things but this really PO’s me. This suave pompadourous jackass needs to go!!!!!!!
Why isn’t this crooked politician being expelled from Congress & being brought up on criminal charges in a civil court action?
And what is the IRS doing in terms of pursuing this obviously arrogant XXX for a long history of tax evasion?
MR. & Mrs. American citizen would have already been convicted and hard at work making little pebbles out of BIG ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!
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If this were you or I we would be in jail, yet this man can keep his job. It is so infuriating!
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And John Ensign wasn’t even tried for ethics violations because. . .?
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United States legal system has two laws one for politicians and another for ordinary citizens. What a shame.
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