That’s what Nancy Pelosi said she was going to preside over when she took the reigns as Speaker of the House. The Most Ethical Congress Ever. Yeah, right.
Monday she said Representative Charles Rangel would not lose his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee, even though he has admitted to problems with his taxes and has hired a forensic accountant to figure it all out and a new attorney to represent him against ethics charges.
It’s because Rangel, the head of the committee that not only writes the tax code but also oversees the budget, now admits his own tax records are in such disarray, he’s had to bring in a forensic accountant to find out just what he owes on items like unreported income on the building he and his wife once owned. Then there is the possible ethical lapses in perhaps getting a favor to combine three condos into one, below-market apartment. Or explaining just how another Dominican condo was financed.
As chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Representative Rangel is one of the most powerful and influential people in the U.S. Government, at least in regards to tax and budget policy. He shapes the tax code that all of us are supposed to abide by, but he can’t be bothered to abide by it himself. Regular Americans don’t get a slap on the wrist if caught perpetrating years of tax evasion… yet Representative Rangel gets to keep his Chairmanship while the investigation proceeds. Remember, facing charges from the IRS is the only time in America where you are innocent until proven guilty and you as the accused bear the burden of proof to defend yourself… unless of course you are a Democrat member of the most ethical congress ever. Then you get a free pass, or at least the benefit of the doubt.
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