Charlie Rangel just may have turned the scales on the system on Monday, rebranding himself from a corrupt old embezzler and bedrock of the institution to the little guy sticking it to The Man.
Charles Rangel just won his midterm re-election to the House of Representatives representing New York’s 15th district—a seat he’s held since 1971—despite being deeply embroiled in an ethics investigation.
In politics an accusation is as good as a conviction—there mere suggestion of guilt destroys reputations almost instantaneously. This may be because, at least in politics, the accused turns out to have indeed done something wrong with pretty close to 100% consistency.
I don’t understand much about the granular details of Charlie Rangel’s ethics investigation—hell, it doesn’t seem like Charlie Rangel understands much about the granular details of Charlie Rangel’s ethics investigation.
But one thing is clear: after carrying the thing on without conclusion for months and burning through $2 million in legal fees and, out of money, winding up without a lawyer at all, he was served an 80-page document by the House Subcommittee and told he had to defend against it in seven days, lawyer or no lawyer.
Meanwhile, according to PBS, the “committee’s top lawyer, Blake Chisam, said in today’s hearing that he saw ‘no evidence of corruption,’ but referred to Rangel’s finances as ‘sloppy,’ and indicated that he had not followed House rules related to fundraising.”
At today’s Capitol Hearing, Rangel apparently felt he wasn’t being given a fair shake, couldn’t accept the committee’s refusal to give him time to find a lawyer, so he just up walked out. As George Clinton once said, “Fuck that shit.”
2010 has been a great year for folk heroes. (And no I don’t mean Sarah Palin.) There was Jet Blue flight attendant Steven Slater who rode an inflatable evacuation slide to folk hero fame. There was Dan Choi, the dismissed soldier who took a stand against “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” There was the Barefoot Bandit, the Russian spies who used their apparent spy status to do things like enroll in Columbia and score a quality education. There was Kevin Costner, who was going to save Gulf with his oil-sucking machines regardless of whether the government was going to take him seriously.
With today’s walk-out, I have the odd sense that Charlie Rangel just became the kind of guy we want to root for instead of against. Seeing a little guy on Capitol Hill robbed of a chance to at least defend himself properly, it’s refreshing to see the guy stand up and just plain walk out. Like Steven Slater famous walk-off, it’s the kind of “fuck that shit” move we’d probably all like to pull in some area of our lives.
November 16, 2010 at 4:49 pm, DFMF said:
Alex, you should really stop penning these political “articles.” Please. You are only serving to embarass yourself with each new entry. Not only don't you “understand much about the granular details of Charlie Rangel's ethics investigation,” you apparently don't understand much about his role in Congress (Chairman on the Ways and Means Committee) nor the eye-popping list of ethics violations and tax controversies in which Charlie has wrapped himself.
To refer to the Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means as a “little guy” is so patently absurd as to be risible. The House W+M Committee is by far one of the most powerful committees in all of government and on par with the Senate Finance Committee in terms of political influence. It not only oversees the United States tax code (the grandfather of all government revenue generators), but it has jurisdiction over Social Security, Medicare, government welfare programs, unemployment benefits, and other financial matters. To suggest that Rangel, the Chairman of the W+M Committee since January 2007, is a “little guy” on Capitol Hill simply proves that you know NOTHING about our government and therefore have ZERO credibility when it comes to discussing political fare.
Perhaps you and all of your unemployed progressive comrades, yearning deep down inside to “stick it to the man,” are rooting for Charlie Rangel – that would be most fitting. But you might want to consider these minor points before making any more of a fool out of yourself down the road:
- In July 2008, the New York Times (your paper of choice) reported that Rangel had rented four rent-stabilized apartments at a rate less than half of other comparable rents in the area. One of the apartments was used as a campaign office in direct violation of NY city and state regulations requiring that rent-stabilized apartments be used as primary residences only. The rent benefit to Rangel was estimated at $30k per year.
- Rangel failed to report income earned from the rental of a villa he owned in the Dominican Republic. During peak tourist season, Rangel charged over $1000 per night to rent out the villa. Rangel, the chairman on the House committee that oversees the U.S. income tax code, failed to report over $75,000 in rent income generated by the villa.
- Rangel has stored an old Mercedes Benz at the House parking garage for years. Congressional rules state that vehicles may not be kept in long-term storage at the garage for more than 45 days. The House estimates that parking garage spaces in that area of town are worth roughly $290 per month. This is yet another income saver that old “You pay taxes, not me” Rangel has failed to acknowledge with a financial benefit to him of over $10,000. Additionally, the vehicle has no license plates, inspection stickers, or parking permits affixed to it.
- Rangel declared the “homestead” property tax exemption on his Washington DC house while simultaneously occupying those four rent-stabilized apartments in NYC. Tax rules in both locations (DC and NYC) state that the homestead exemption can only be declared on the taxpayer's primary residence, which in Rangel's case is his suite of four rent-controlled (plus an additional 50% reduced) in NYC.
- In August of 2009 Rangel amended his 2007 financial disclosures to include more than $500,000 in additional assets and income that were previously unreported, including more unpaid taxes on properties in New Jersey, an interest-bearing checking account with a balance over $250,000, and stocks owned in both PepsiCo and Yum Foods.
Sadly, this is just a SMALL sampling of an impressive list of legal violations, financial inconsistencies, and unethical dealings in which “little guy” Charlie has been involved during his 40 year political career. Only a completely uneducated and uninformed cretin could suggest that Rangel, who has continual flaunted the very tax laws that he and his committee have overseen, is some sort of a folk hero.
Alex, you owe it to yourself to put down your Frappuccino, pull out the iPod earbuds, close the lid on your Macbook Air, and educate yourself about the real world and all of its “granular details.” Your journalistic credibility is now as torn and tattered as “folk hero” Rangel's ethical credibility. Perhaps you might try looking at the real world for once without the burden of your progressive-tinted lenses, but I suspect that your answer will simply be “fuck that shit.” Well done, Alex.
November 16, 2010 at 7:33 pm, Bildo said:
Charles Rangel is an elected member of Congress, was Chaired the Ways and Means Committee, and was one of the most powerful men in the country. He abused the system, and violated the very laws that he voted in favor of. He deserves nothing but contempt.
November 26, 2010 at 5:37 pm, Obama Reelection Relocation To Chicago Would Destroy ‘Washington’ Dreams | Death and Taxes said:
[...] DeLay’s conviction last week for funneling corporate money for political gain, and sitting Rep. Charlie Rangel’s likely censuring only help push D.C.’s public image back into the swamp from which it [...]