Tax Cheat
Earlier this week Charlie Rangel was convicted on 11 out of 13 ethics violations he was charged with. Today the Ethic Committee convened to decide upon his penalty and the committee has decided to censure Charlie Rangel by a vote of 9-1.
Charlie Rangel will have to stand alone on the floor of the House while Nancy Pelosi reads the censure which will be written by his colleagues. He was also ordered to pay back taxes on the thousands of dollars he illegally accepted as gifts while being a United States representative. This is considered a fairly harsh punishment in light of the fact that it was thought that Charlie Rangel would simply be reprimanded by the Ethics Committee.
One member of the Ethics Committee defended the decision this way:
Public office is a public trust,” said Chisam, staff director of the ethics committee. Rangel “violated that trust”
I agree with the assessment 100%, Charlie Rangel violated the very trust he was entrusted with, and for this he needs to pay a higher penalty than a reprimand although I don’t think censure goes far enough. Today he received the news that I am sure he was most fearful of hearing, because there was never any chance that the Ethics Committee was going to expel him from the Congress.
Charlie Rangel will face the humiliation of a public berating by his colleagues; hopefully he will decide to retire instead of being publicly humiliated, but I think we all know that this is not going to happen. I also feel that the censure language will not be nearly as harsh as is should be because Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are going to try to minimize the penalty by softening the censure using language that is not befitting the seriousness of Charlie Rangel’s crimes.
Charlie Rangel disgraced the office that he had the honor of holding for twenty years and for that he should be forced to step aside and let a more capable and honest person take his place. Charlie Rangel represents everything that is wrong in Washington; firstly, he is corrupt and has been evading taxes for years, and secondly; once caught he is allowed to stay in office facing only a slap on the wrist, instead of being forced to resign his position. While this will be humiliating for him the fact is that he will be allowed to hold onto the seat that he has illegally profited from all of these years
If Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats were truly serious about “draining the swamp” they would force Charlie Rangel to step aside. America deserves better people in office than those who are willing to accept thousands of dollars of gifts tax free while denying any wrongdoing or intent of personal gain.
Charlie Rangel still denies he did anything wrong, and there is the likelihood that he actually believes his discrepancies were legal. If he truly believes he did nothing wrong than that is very telling about the mindset that is prevalent in Washington, if so he deserves to be removed from office. If he is still lying in the face of being found guilty he still deserves to be removed from office.
Charlie Rangel will be the first House member to be censured in more than 30 years, but in my opinion he got off easy.
America's Watchtower 
How do we insure that he doesn’t do this again?
LikeLike
Trust him, he learned his lesson. That is a good question, how are we supposed to trust him or any of the others who now know they can get away with this type of criminal activity?
LikeLike
The real question is, does he still get to sit on his committees, like the Tax one he currently sits on?
The only way this punishment would be acceptable is if they held off reading it until the final day of the session of Congress before the 2012 Congressional elections. Let his constituents here how much of a scumbag he is a couple days before they have to vote for him.
As it is, the people have short memories, and they will completely forget all this happened when it is time to re-elect him.
LikeLike
That is a good question, I think he probably will still get to sit on the committees, but at least he will no longer be the chairman. You are right, this whole thing will be forgotten when he is up for re-election again.
LikeLike
I believe I should run for congress now. Just in case I stray from my morals, and cheat on my taxes, or lie to people, or drown someone, I want to be held harmless and receive a mean face and stern talk. This politician thing could be fun!
LikeLike
It must be nice to live in a world where you will never be held accountable for your actions.
LikeLike
Charlie Rangle has to pay the money back plus a penalty. Well, there goes the rest of the Pac money he controls.
I love your blog. I added you to my Links I Like. PracticalMan.org.
Keep up the good work.
LikeLike
Thank you so much for the compliment and the link. I will be adding you to mine as well.
LikeLike
Thank you.
LikeLike