On Friday afternoon, I received a call from Matt, on behalf of himself and Oreo. They had known that my house was under construction, and that I'd be at the hospital this week with a family member, and hadn't been all that concerned when I was unable to post. But when Charlie was indicted on 13 charges, and I didn't have something up on the 7 charges missed, they feared the worst, and wanted to make sure I was still alive.
My only comment on the Rangel indictment is as a native New Yorker. I accept bribery, corruption, pay to play, unpaid taxes, and all the rest as part of the system: people do these things, these things are wrong, and there should be a price to pay, although there often isn't. So it goes. But Charlie has four, count them FOUR rent controlled apartments. For that, he should have to give up all four, be prevented from ever getting one again, and do serious jail time. Rent controlled apartments in Manhattan are really, REALLY tough to get, and he personally cheated 3 constituent families, and that, I cannot abide. If you have never lived in Manhattan, you can't really understand.
Nothing is stopping him. Charlie's birthday is in June, but the gala fete celebrating his 80th will be held on 11 August, with Aretha Franklin performing, and tickets running from $200 to $2500, proceeds to the Rangel "Victory Fund." He's polling at 39%, which would generally be considered endangered, but that's against 4 challengers, and it was the first poll out after the indictment. Most voters in his district have never voted for anyone but Charlie Rangel. Ever in their voting lives.
In all likelihood, he may be reprimanded, he may be censured, but it's likely he won't be ousted. And that he'll be re-elected. And so long as he gives up the four apartments, I don't care. In fact, if he raffled them off as a campaign stunt, that might be the thing that raises his poll numbers. He'll then resign in January, pick a successor, and things will return to normal. I feel that way about Maxine Waters, also. She's going to go to trial over financial improprieties: she's likely guilty, too.
But this is 2010, and the problem is less the people, and more the process and the system that makes these things so easy for elected officials. On the other hand, I'd like to see Ben Nelson ousted from the Senate for his voting record and his soon-to-be vote against Elena Kagan. This to me is the REAL crime. Charlie and Maxine and a bunch of other pols (including Blago, who will be sharing a cell with his predecessor if he doesn't jump bail and take off for a country with no extradition treaty) are guilty of pay to play. It goes on in many forms at all levels of government. Until the system is changed so that this cannot happen, people will do it. It hurts a few people, and benefits others. But someone like Ben Nelson, who can single-handedly ruin things like health care, climate change, unemployment and other safety net benefits, etc., is hurting millions of people, and really needs to be stopped.
Would I have said this in 2008? Nope. But the country has become so polarized that I'm willing to accept some corruption on both sides if we can hold a voting majority, as opposed to a numerical majority, and get important legislation passed without trouble. If we can get things on the right track, with people back to work, the economy humming, and Main Street trumping Wall Street, then will be the time to look at the system and fix it.
Charlie Rangel is going to trial in front of the House Ethics Committee. The public organizational meeting will be next week, when the full charges will be announced. Politico is reporting that this occurred because House Democrats, Republicans and Charlie himself, couldn't cut an acceptable deal. Who knows? Politico is a Republican site.
The snark part is that if I was going to compile the charges list, I don't know whether I'd start with the four rent-controlled apartments, the parking tickets, payments to his son for the non-website, the bribes, the virtual extortion normally called pay-to-play, or the unpaid Caribbean taxes because, as Charlie said "I can't read Spanish." If you are new to DCW, or haven't kept up, type "Rangel" into the "Tags" link, and you can read all 29 posts. By way of trivia - the last House member to be tried on ethics violations was Jim Traficant in 2002. He got out of jail a few months ago, and his petitions were denied last month, so he won't be on the November ballot as an Independent running for an Ohio seat.
The serious part: The MSM will all be talking about how this can cost Democrats the House. I disagree. I believe that a public trial of Charlie Rangel is important, and a positive step. There is no doubt that the Republicans are more guilty of more crimes than the Democrats. (If you don't know the list, you really haven't been paying attention.) There is a huge difference between ***A*** crook, and institutional crime. Look at William "Cash" Jefferson, currently serving 13 years. That didn't bring down the party: the guy was guilty, and the proof was the 90 grand in his freezer. Ousting individual crooks strengthens the honour of the party. Also, a fair and open trial of Charlie Rangel allows the House Ethics Committee and potentially (please, PLEASE) the Senate Ethics Committee to go after the whole lot of crooks: start with Ensign, run through the rest of the C Street boys, and work up to Shrub and the Prince of Darkness for treason and crimes against humanity.
And hey! wait! what if this was the beginning of the end of pay to play and the overreaching hammer of lobbyists. Sorry -- it's early, I'm tired -- but still, a girl can dream.
I'm glad Charlie is finally going on trial. But even if he is convicted, I wouldn't worry about him. First, he's 80 and he's got so many places to live that just picking an abode outside of DC will take some time. Then, he could vacation in the Caribbean since he finally paid the back taxes. Plus, he's welcome in Jamaica where he won the "Order of Jamaica" last year. Not to mention, he could be the Mayor Curley of our time, and get re-elected even from jail! (No, the House won't jail him, although they legally can.) And yes, it wouldn't surprise me if he were convicted by the House and then won this November over Powell IV. A lot of possibility of full circle things there....it would really be funny if he won but the House refused to seat him, and then he sued, and won another term while the court dithered....wait, that was Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Back in the '60's. You have to admit there is a "full circle"-ism to this whole thing!
Off to meet my electrician, as today is "electrical rough-in day". Have a great Friday.
On Tuesday 14 September of this year, there will be a primary. On the ballot for the most densely populated of all US Congressional Districts will be two names: Charlie Rangel, and Adam Clayton Powell IV.
I bet you think I'm going to talk about how nice it is that someone is challenging Rangel because I've been so closely following his ethics issues. Well sure, that's amusing, but there more here. So much more. And kids, it's rich: like tapestry.
Let's talk Powells.
Start with Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. Born in 1865 to a white slave owner and his mother, a slave. Grew up to be a religious man.
Then, there is Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. A pastor like his dad, he was elected to the House in 1945. First black elected from New York. Ever. Second black from any Northern state post-reconstruction. He and William Johnson were the only blacks in the House (and none in the Senate) from 1945 through 1955. They were joined by one or two others, until black representation began to rise in the mid-to-late 1960's. Remember, the House and Senate dining rooms were segregated when Powell became a Congressman. Lynching for being black was legal. "N****r" was an acceptable term on the floor of the House.
Stand in awe for what these guys did, and hear the song "We Shall Overcome" in your head. Be impressed: it was certainly the marchers, those who died of bomb blasts and took the beatings....but it was also the quiet rebellion of men like Powell, a CONGRESSMAN working to change a segregated dining room at his workplace.
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr had a few, um, legal issues. It's a long story, but the Cliff Notes version is that the House refused to seat him. The kinds of "ethical" things he was charged with pale in comparison to the mastery of Charlie Rangel, and a bunch of younger pols. So, he sued. The Supremes eventually said the House had to seat him. Justice is slow, and in the interim he won ANOTHER election.
In the end, though, he lost a primary to Charlie Rangel in 1970, and gave up his seat for good in January of 1971. As you know, Charlie's been there ever since.
The district itself has been reapportioned a number of times, but only nudging north on the island of Manhattan. It started in Harlem, parts of which it still includes, but now also includes parts of Morningside Heights. Of note, this CD used to be predominantly black, and now is predominantly Hispanic.
Now, as for "Adam Clayton Powell IV" - there are two of them. You think I make this stuff up....Adam Clayton Powell Jr was married three times. With his second wife, he had a son Adam Clayton Powell III. He's not running for anything. Adam Clayton Powell III had a son named Adam Clayton IV. He's also not running for anything. Meanwhile, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr and his third wife Yvette Diago Powell, had a son Adam Clayton Powell Diago. There is a Hispanic naming tradition which I don't understand well enough to explain (although I'm sure if one of you does, it will be in the comments in a little bit). Adam Clayton Powell Diago (who is actually the uncle of the other Adam Clayton Powell IV) changed his name to Adam Clayton Powell, IV in 1980 and he IS the one running against Charlie Rangel.
The running Powell challenged Charlie in 1994 and lost by a landslide. In addition, he's been arrested for drunk driving, but got off when the jury settled on "driving while ability impaired" which in NY is a lot like a speeding ticket. Still - expect to see it again. Still, you're going to like ACP4, trust me. The Vieques arrest, the dedication to his district, the totality of him and richness of the family saga.
A race worth watching, and I know I'm sticking with it.
And oh, by the way - whichever one wins the primary wins the seat. If Rangel wins the primary, he may win the seat only to resign in January to be able to appoint his successor. The Powell-Rangel animose actually does go that deep.
In a parallel universe situation reminiscent of something that would come out of Babylon 5, Jerry Brown will be announcing that he's running for governor of California. Here's the weird thing: we noted in February of 2009, or 13 calendar months ago using the regular calendar, that he was running. I guess this is the "formal" thing. He's been being polled all along, and he's done well: last September, he was winning. In Republican polling a couple weeks ago, Brown was dead even with Meg Whitman. He'll do even better once he gets going.
In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a big fan of Jerry Brown. Met him back in 1976, and he's smarter and more impressive then his "Governor Moonbeam" press might indicate.
Moving across the country: it did not go unnoticed in Jessville that the House is going to slap Charlie Rangel's hands. It's called "formal admonishment", and will occur on Friday. It's offensive. They nailed him for misusing funds for a trip. That other Congressmen went on. That was approved. Is he guilty of that? Yeah, sure, and he'll give back some money. BUT...Charlie is REALLY guilty of serious misuse of funds: the housing in violation of New York City rent control laws, the tax problems with his Caribbean properties, the outright bribe money.....plus the parking tickets....(lots of links here). They nailed him for something minor to avoid having to deal with more legitimate and serious charges, and thus not have to censure him. Or worse.
And finally, people have been asking me how an earthquake in Chile that was 500 times worse than the one in Haiti could cause so much less damage and loss of life. I don't know why people ask me these things...but in case you were wondering, it's because they have a functional government in Chile. That means organization, response, infrastructure. Yes, it's also that the quake was much deeper and offshore and away from populated areas. But no matter what the disaster, the response matters. In Chile, people were allowed to "loot" grocery stores while waiting for aid, and the government will make payments to the stores. (No TVs, though....bravo to the Chileans to realize that finding food when you're hungry is very different from stealing.) Is the Chilean earthquake a terrible tragedy? Absolutely, but the recovery will be quicker and easier because of a functioning government.
If you've been keeping up with Charlie, you have just got to love this:
Yesterday, Rangel received the Order of Jamaica, for his for "outstanding contribution in promoting the interests of Jamaica and the Caribbean," as the Jamaican government put it in a statement.
Rangel, who chairs the House's top tax-writing body, is under investigation by the House Ethics committee in connection with a slew of financial improprieties. One of those is that he and other lawmakers took trips to the Caribbean that were sponsored by corporate lobbyists. The trips were officially organized by a group called the Carib News Foundation, and may have violated a Congressional ban on corporate-funded travel.
On Wednesday, the Democratic-majority Congress short-circuited a floor vote on stripping Rangel of the chairmanship, instead referring the GOP-backed resolution to the ethics committee, which has already been looking into the raft of allegations made against him at Rangel's request.
The legendary Rangel, who has been on Capitol Hill since 1971, is a founder of the Congressional Black Caucus and wields his power with the unapologetic glee of a lawmaker who has spent years fighting for it. But the move signals that the GOP will try to make Rangel a liability for fellow Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections, characterizing any votes supporting him keeping his committee akin to supporting congressional corruption. Democrats in close races could also face demands that they return campaign funds from Rangel.
We've detailed in the past the many, many challenges of Charlie Rangel. (Some of the collection here, here, here, and here.)
And there's no doubt the IIE WILL try to keep a spotlight on him: they even tried to pass "The Rangel Rule" earlier this year, although it never came to the floor.
If I were the IIE, I'd follow the same tact. Look at this list: Mark Sanford, John Ensign, Mitch McConnell, David Vitter, Vern Buchanan, Ken Calvert, Nathan Deal, Jerry Lewis (the rep from California, not the comic), not to mention the I-can't-believe-they-didn't-indict-him-yet Don Young. If it were me, I'd try to deflect, deflect, deflect.
As an aside, Tom Delay is off of that dancing TV show: and he IS under current indictment.
It's not going to work. The corruption, tax evasion and abuse of power that Charlie Rangel is guilty of are personal. That is, it's not part of an ingrained program. Some things are just extreme and ON the person: like William "Cash" Jefferson. NO ONE thinks that every Democrat has $90,000 in cold cash in the freezer. He was guilty, found guilty by the court, and is getting what he deserves. Charlie is guilty of lots of things, and eventually it will be time to pay the piper.
The IIE, however, exhibits a pattern of speaking moral high ground, and failing in every way. We're never surprised when yet another one is found to have a mistress or two. (VITO!!! not to mention New Gingrich.) Or a boy on the side. (Hi! Mark Foley: you only think we forget.) We're never surprised when they're tied to lobbyists in each and every way. Nor when they fix elections (one of Tom Delay's indictments). Or are found guilty of corruption (yes, Ted Stevens, you might have gotten off on a technicality, but you were guilty.)
The whole thing reminds me of a poem:
I am rubber, you are glue - It bounces off me and sticks to you.
In a perfect world, Charlie would resign as soon as health care passes (he heads Ways and Means) and remove himself from the spotlight so we can focus on the real criminals. But this is an imperfect world.
The serious side: Charlie Rangel was interviewed about health care reform by MSNBC and said:
"Everyone knows that people around the table are stealing, but they don't want to turn each other in if they're going to have to pay the full penalty," said Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Asked in an interview on MSNBC what he meant by stealing, the New York Democrat replied, "I mean stealing."
He later specified big pharma as an example.
Now, the Congressman is right. The thievery of big phrarma knows no bounds. And before you talk about how they need to cover drug development costs, tell me about it AFTER you list out the multi-million dollar expenditures on the execs, boards, advertising campaigns and especially how much they spend developing drugs for "conditions" that didn't exist until there was a drug created for them.
However, I can't resist the associated snark. And I apologize in advance. It's all in how you define "theft." If you don't pay your taxes, is that "stealing" from the Federal government, or just gaming the system? What about unpaid parking tickets? Pots and kettles.
Tax season is well under way, and embattled Rep. Charlie Rangel — a man who has had, ahem, some trouble with the IRS — has inspired legislation that could have taxpayers everywhere jumping for joy.
Introduced on Wednesday by Rep. John Carter, the Rangel Rule Act would amend the tax code to allow any U.S. citizen who writes the phrase “Rangel Rule” on the top of their tax return to be exempt from penalties or interest on any back taxes they might have to pay.
The Texas Republican says he was inspired to pen the measure after learning Rangel hadn’t paid any penalties or interest on the $10,000 worth of back taxes he owed from rental income on a Caribbean property. While Rangel did eventually pay the back taxes, it remains unclear if he ever will pay any penalties.
I thought this might be an early April Fool's joke, but no, it's actually HR 735.
First, Rod is back in the news. Yesterday, he didn't file a plea in his impeachment trial, and now we know why. He said:
"The impeachment trial is a sham"
His reason? He claimed that he was not being afforded the opportunity to call witnesses. Now, I have defended the right of Rod to do his job, because I believe in process. But here, he's definitely wrong, since the reason he can't call any witnesses is because he ignored the deadline to submit the paperwork TO call witnesses.
It turns out that the "sham" comment is just bluster. He fully expects to be ousted next week.
In related news, it seems the FBI wiretaps may bring down DC political consulting firm Peter D. Hart Research Group Associates.
Remember Charlie Rangel? Ethics and potential legal problems; four rent controlled apartments, one used for a campaign HQ; the Carribean condo; the son with the poor website design...You remember.
We can talk about how we, who contribute, would like our campaign contributions spent. My personal choices are things like office space, advertising, salaries, polling, pizza for the volunteers, phones, things like that. But personal parking tickets of the candidate? Not so much.
For starters, I'm pissed that Rangel has rung up more than $2,000 in parking tickets in the past 7 years. Plus, it's escalating, since over $1,500 of those tickets were acquired in the past two years. One, for $30, is still outstanding. For what he earns.......
Although, he's not the only one. The expense is listed as "automobile expense."
Yesterday, Charlie Rangel (D-NY) was refusing to step down as Ways and Means Chair while the ethics investigation was going on. Well, the investigation just got bigger. Politico is reporting that:
The House ethics committee has voted to expand its investigation of Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) to include allegations that he helped a $1 million donor to the Charles B. Rangel Center at the City College of New York retain a lucrative tax loophole.
The big problem is that with the expanded scope of the investigation, it may well not wrap by close of term. If it goes into next year, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has a real problem. "Ways and Means" means taxes and health care legislation. Having a Chair under investigation was going to be bad, but with Blagojevich on the front page, it's a disaster, as it plays into the "culture of corruption" the GOP will attempt to pin on the Democrats. (Side note: Ted Stevens, Duke Cunningham, Larry Craig, Tom Delay, Mark Foley, Scooter Libby, Vito! and as yet unindicted co-conspirators Baby Bush and Dick, the Prince of Darkness. Sorry, couldn't help myself.)
Pelosi has always been supportive of Charlie, but it's hard to see if she can leave him in place come January. While he may end up passing muster with the House ethics committee, the courts in NY are likely not going to let it go quickly. With Blago now the poster child for absolute insane stupidity, and certainly guilty, the party cannot afford another public lightening rod.
You know that Charlie Rangel (D-NY) has been accused of ethics problems, and some of them might be actually legally actionable. He welcomes the investigation, but it turns out he is unwilling to step down as the House Chair of Ways and Means, as urged in a Washington Posteditorial.
"I don't see what purpose that would serve. I don't think reporters should be in the position of removing Chairmen."
Lashing out at the most recent report appearing in Politico that Rangel paid his son $80,000 to design his campaign Web site, a fee that experts say was legal but excessively high, Rangel said, "I think the reporter should crawl from under his rock and apologize to my son."
That web site was valued by an expert at about $100.
Mayor Mike Bloomberg still considers Charlie a valuable asset to New York City. Then again, for all the good we can say about Mayor Mike, he was VITO!'s biggest financial backer. For years.
My only comment on the Rangel indictment is as a native New Yorker. I accept bribery, corruption, pay to play, unpaid taxes, and all the rest as part of the system: people do these things, these things are wrong, and there should be a price to pay, although there often isn't. So it goes. But Charlie has four, count them FOUR rent controlled apartments. For that, he should have to give up all four, be prevented from ever getting one again, and do serious jail time. Rent controlled apartments in Manhattan are really, REALLY tough to get, and he personally cheated 3 constituent families, and that, I cannot abide. If you have never lived in Manhattan, you can't really understand. 
On Tuesday 14 September of this year, there will be a primary. On the ballot for the most densely populated of all US Congressional Districts will be two names: Charlie Rangel, and Adam Clayton Powell IV. 
If you've been keeping up with Charlie, you have just got to love 
Remember Charlie Rangel? Ethics and potential legal problems; four rent controlled apartments, one used for a campaign HQ; the Carribean condo; the son with the poor website design...You remember.
