Rangel censured....and my idea to fix the problem!

[RightIsWrong]

Well, it seems as if Congress has once again, investigated one of its own, found them guilty and slapped them on the wrist.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/03/AR2010120301911.html

On Thursday evening, for the first time in 27 years, the speaker read aloud the resolution of reproach. "By its adoption of House Resolution 1737, the House is resolved that representative Charles Rangel of New York be censured," Nancy Pelosi read, calling on the fallen chairman of the Ways and Means committee to pay the taxes he owes. Rangel, staring back at the speaker, swallowed hard.

Personally, this is bullshit and I'm tired of it. Both sides play the same, stupid game. They rob the American people blind while accepting their bloated paychecks and other perks that come at the expense of the taxes paid by those same Americans.

I have a solution to thwart (it ain't gonna stop completely, there's too much corruption in the Republican and Democratic houses) the problem a little. Here's the two step approach that I've come up with:

1. Calculate the time the person has been a Congressman or Senator
2. If t < 4 years, censure
else impeach

These fucktards have been around long enough to know the rules and to know that they are willingly and knowingly breaking them. They don't deserve to keep their cushy job, their lifetime of free health care (ironic that they oppose that same perk for the rest of the population though) and a six figure pension in some cases. Oh yeah, since the Repubs like the idea of raising the retirement age to 69, let's do the same for them. No Congressman or Senator will be afforded the ability to collect pensions before a person is allowed to collect social security retirement benefits. Currently, the can start collecting at age 50!

 

[waggy]

they go to this NOBODY will be found guilty.

 

[DesiPower]

they go to this NOBODY will be found guilty.

and that's OK, atleast we wont have to face this outrageous and ridiculous charade. The politicians are like pigs (my apologies to pigs), they have no shame, a little public disgrace is the least of their worries as long as they can keep pocketing the money like wh0res. If a non politician if found of 11 corruption charges guess where his ass end up? So please spare me this stupid process and don't prosecute them at all unless you want to give politicians these punishments as regular people.

 

[nobodyknows]

Call me naive, but IMHO people caught abusing the public trust should go to jail, comma, period, end!!

I DON'T CARE WHO THEY ARE OR WHAT THEY DID IN THE PAST. You screw the public over then you go to jail. That or cut of their right hand.

 

[boomerang]

Call me naive, but IMHO people caught abusing the public trust should go to jail, comma, period, end!!

I DON'T CARE WHO THEY ARE OR WHAT THEY DID IN THE PAST. You screw the public over then you go to jail. That or cut of their right hand.

Exactly right. But remember who makes the rules.

I suppose it's possible that Rangel will face charges of some sort - eventually. That process seems to take years though.

 

[drebo]

If Wesley Snipes had to go to jail for tax evasion, this fucker should too.

 

[jrodson69]

If Wesley Snipes had to go to jail for tax evasion, this fucker should too.

This.

But Rangel won't. That old fart will croak before any jail sentence would ever be imposed, much less carried out.

The people of Harlem deserve exactly what they "vote" for. Rangel is a disgrace.

 

[Mursilis]

This.

But Rangel won't. That old fart will croak before any jail sentence would ever be imposed, much less carried out.

The people of Harlem deserve exactly what they "vote" for. Rangel is a disgrace.

Indeed they do, but Rangel, in a federal office, gets to screw over the rest of us, too, and we have no say in the matter.

 

[Jaskalas]

Maybe we should 'drain the swamp' and put in its place 'the most ethical Congress in history'. Oh wait....:awe:

 

[Jiggz]

and that's OK, atleast we wont have to face this outrageous and ridiculous charade. The politicians are like pigs (my apologies to pigs), they have no shame, a little public disgrace is the least of their worries as long as they can keep pocketing the money like wh0res. If a non politician if found of 11 corruption charges guess where his ass end up? So please spare me this stupid process and don't prosecute them at all unless you want to give politicians these punishments as regular people.

Talking about "pigs". When politicians get prosecuted it's like wrestling a pig to the dirt and it just keeps enjoying it! I mean look at Charlie he even got re-elected, by a landslide margin mind you!

 

[IGBT]

he needs to go to jail and all privileges and pensions need to be severed.

 

[RightIsWrong]

Maybe we should 'drain the swamp' and put in its place 'the most ethical Congress in history'. Oh wait....:awe:

Anyone in Washington that even utters the word ethical while referring to someone that works in Washington, should be run out of Washington!

I get that it is human nature to want to trust and feel part of a group, I really do, but so many on here, and even more that aren't on here do so at their own expense. The Republicans and Democrats are two heads attached to the same beast. Once a person gets to Washington, they are at the mercy of the corrupt political machines that want nothing but their survival. The only way to guarantee it is through having an unlimited supply of money that can only be gotten by doing the bidding of those that got you there and those that can almost assuredly keep you there.

Try to stop whining already about liberal this and conservative that because it is ultimately a pointless endeavor and start trying to make real change happen by cutting the head of the beast off, corporate funding of political campaigns, parties, trips and any other method that they have of legally bribing government officials to do what is in their best interests and not the citizens of this countries best interests.

 

[ayabe]

Maybe no jailtime but he should have been forced to resign certainly. How the hell do you "forgot" about your DR vacation house for 18 years?! The answer....you don't.

Even tough talking R's didn't seem too enthused about pressing for expulsion, which tells me most congress people are probably guilty of some form of this crap to varying degrees and are worried they might be called out on it someday.

 

[Mursilis]

Try to stop whining already about liberal this and conservative that because it is ultimately a pointless endeavor and start trying to make real change happen by cutting the head of the beast off, corporate funding of political campaigns, parties, trips and any other method that they have of legally bribing government officials to do what is in their best interests and not the citizens of this countries best interests.

Of course, the other problem is, most citizens don't want what's in their best interest either. We're a nation of idiots.

 

[Cogman]

The guy deserves jail time. Censuring basically amounts to them using strong language against him. A slap on the wrist for what he did. Hell, they aren't even REQUIRING him to pay back his taxes, they are sternly asking that he does? WTF is up with that? If I don't pay my taxes, you can bet I don't get a "You really should pay your taxes" from the IRS, I get arrested. What is worse, the IRS can come in and remove the taxes from my bank account. They can take my property, and they can/ and will throw me in jail.

There are too many people in politics that think that they should be above the law... This case just proves that they are.

 

[GroundedSailor]

Interesting, what Ben Stein has to say about Rangel.

Comments of Ben Stein - a lifelong republican

Link to Video

Ben Stein: Charlie Rangel Still a Hero to Me

By now everyone who follows politics knows that Charles Rangel, the 20-term representative to Congress from New York's Harlem district, has been found guilty of ethics violations by the House ethics panel.

He apparently failed to report rental income from a dwelling in the Caribbean, used his office stationery for fund raising for a school named after him, and used a rent stabilized apartment for a political office.

For this, the punishment is publicly shaming by being censured.

Now, just to me (whom you all know as a lifelong Republican), Rangel's misdeeds seem like extremely trivial matters. The IRS has not prosecuted him for tax evasion. When you are a busy man, small tax issues can get lost in the shuffle.

The other two matters just seem like total and utter nothings.

But what I really want to say about Charles Rangel is that this man is a genuine American hero.

In unbelievably difficult service in the Korean War, his unit was swamped, cut off, overwhelmed by hordes of Red Chinese crossing into Korea. In the worst cold weather imaginable, under fire, starving, acting Sergeant Charles Rangel, in a black unit led mostly by white officers, took a large group of men, led them by example, lifted their morale, as they fought their way out to safety. Men were being shot, freezing, getting captured all around him, yet he got most of his men out.

For this leadership, sacrifice, and courage, Mr. Rangel was awarded a Bronze Star with a V for Valor.

After that, he served as a prosecutor, and then for 20 distinguished terms, as a member of Congress, for a time as chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. His erudition and fairness earned him high marks throughout his career.

Now, he has been humiliated over what seems to me like almost nothing.

Just for me, I hope that history will record that a truly great man, Charlie Rangel, a hero of the first rank, was laid low by trivial, no-account matters, censured by people who mostly have no clue of what true courage, fighting, blood and frostbite mean.

Charlie Rangel does know, and to me, he is still a hero.

Seems like he did accomplish a lot but ruined it at the end of his career with stupid stuff.

..

 

[Lemon law]

Thank you GroundedSailor for setting the overall record Straight.

It certainly does not vindicate Charlie Rangel, who did screw up, but it puts his very minor
human failures in proper perspective.

I might also point out the now convicted Tom Delay caught our future speaker of the house. John Boenher, in far larger ethical violations, and lonesome John B stayed in the GOP shithouse until Tom Delay was forced to resign from the house for far bigger ethics violations than either Boenher or Rangle comitted.

Nor do I want to make this into a partisan posts, because there are many democratic and Republicans that for financial or political gain, made a career of enriching themselves, did far worse damage to our country, and never got caught. Leading me to say, even if stacked up against the average Republican or democratic congressman or Senator, Charles Rangel would be above the 80&#37; percentile on overall ethics.

 

[nobodyknows]

So where do we draw the line in ethics? It's OK to abuse the system if you were decorated in a war? Or are extremely busy? Sorry, but I'm not buyin thast BS. You do things right the first time, every time. He was charged with 11 ethic violations, not 1. Maybe just one could be overlooked, but not 11, and thoise are just the ones he got caught on.

I never have and never will defend anyone caught redhanded. He's guilty and he knows he guilty.... and he's getting off with a slap onj the wrist. IMO Ben Stein is just another Washington insider who doesn't want to live by the rules the rest of us have to, and as such his opinion is moot.

 

[werepossum]

Interesting, what Ben Stein has to say about Rangel.

Comments of Ben Stein - a lifelong republican

Link to Video



Seems like he did accomplish a lot but ruined it at the end of his career with stupid stuff.

..

He hardly ruined his career, this is standard operating procedures for D.C. The same things about being a war hero applies to Duke Cunningham as well, who went to prison, or to the unnamed hero of Somalia who later went to prison for nailing a 15 year old (and without even a fat government pension!) No free passes.

Still, it does us all well to remember that Rangel IS an authentic war hero who, had he been an officer, would probably have been awarded the Silver Star for his actions. Personally I'd be willing to grant him his FOUR rent-controlled apartments (with the numerous violations of law they entail) for his actions in Korea, as well as the stationary thing (which is nothing, everyone knows he's a freakin' powerful Congressman whatever stationary he uses) as long as he pays his back taxes with penalties. There can be NO excuse, even had he won The Medal, for calling for higher taxes on others whilst not paying your own.

 

[RightIsWrong]

How the hell is Ben Stein now the voice of reason of criminal activity by a sitting Congressman by claiming that 20 consecutive years of improper tax filings is easily dismissed as simple forgetfulness?

Did Rangel forget to cash the rental checks for twenty years also?

And LemonLaw, you are a pathetic, partisan hack. You were one of the most vocal proponents of Bush, Cheney and Rove being tarred and feathered, prosecuted, thrown in Gitmo and waterboarded and now are willing to overlook Rangel's "very minor human failures" with nothing more than a glance?

Rangel, Bush, Cheney, Rove, Boehner, Delay, Reid, Conyers and every other politician or political support person that had any, and I mean any, hand in the intentional breaking of any law needs more than a slap on the wrist by Congress and then trown back in the cesspool where they can proceed to do a better job of hiding their tracks while their behavior stays exactly the same. They need prosecuted in a jurisdiction outside of where they have bought and paid for their constituents so that the jury pool isn't tainted by promises of a new rec center and then tried for the felonies that they are committing.

 

[kinev]

Anyone else get the feeling that this "censure" is a lot like Michael from the office "declaring" bankruptcy? Like just saying the words has some "magical" affect? Oh, she said the magic words...no need for jail, paying back taxes, expulsion...just saying it is enough.

 

[MotF Bane]

Leading me to say, even if stacked up against the average Republican or democratic congressman or Senator, Charles Rangel would be above the 80% percentile on overall ethics.

Leaving aside your pathetic partisan hackery, and your acceptance of corruption, if your last line is true, then 99% of Congress needs to be thrown in prison for the rest of their lives.

 

[UberNeuman]

Leaving aside your pathetic partisan hackery, and your acceptance of corruption, if your last line is true, then 99% of Congress needs to be thrown in prison for the rest of their lives.

Let He Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Stone.

\how foolish are you?

 

[Lemon law]

Well truth be told, 99&#37; of congress does need to be cast into prison for the rest of their lives.

We pretend we have a representative democracy when the best healed lobbyists eat all our lunches.

As for our OP RightIsWrong, its hard to tell if he is just clueless, or truly dumber than a box of rocks.

How Dare you RightIsWrong even dare to compare the dishonesty and corruption of Charlie Rangel to the Dishonesty and War criminals of GWB&co.

If we even start to compare the penny ante theft at the Public trough of a Charlie Rangle to the mulitrillion dollar theft and corruption of GWB&co, any rational person has to admit there is no comparison even without denominating in the hundreds of thousands
of people killed by GWB&co.

Please grow some brains before you have the unmitigated gall to dismiss me as a mere partisan hack.

 

[hal2kilo]

I liked Rangel, but wrong is wrong. As for how his fellow congressmen ruled against him and judged him, I will refer to the bible for quotation purpouses "Let those without sin cast the first stone".

I guess when you are a Senator like Ensign or Ritter you can do what ever you want.