Hypocrite: Censured tax dodger Charles Rangel calls higher taxes "paying your fair share!"

NY Rep. Charles Rangel does realize he is making himself look like a jack ass, doesn't he?

Via Washington Secrets:

New York Rep. Charles Rangel, censured by the House for ethics violations over squirrely financial dealings like failing to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets and failing to pay income taxes, today called President Obama’s goal of killing some Bush tax cuts “paying your fair share!”

The 82-year-old’s umbrage came in a tweet while he was in the Cannon Rotunda interview area. According to a picture he also tweeted, he was near House Majority Leader Eric Cantor who was in a discussion over the Bush tax cuts.

“My ears perking up to hear Rep. Cantor saying taxes will go up under Pres Obama. It’s called ‘paying your fair share!’” Rangel tweeted just after noon.

His picture shows Rangel waiting to be interviewed with Cantor off to the right, TV light shining off his face as he is being interviewed.

Keep on reading…

Demo Rep: Charlie Rangel wants to get the "hypocrisy" out and for Congress to have more "morality"

Charlie Rangel is now being hypocritical about hypocrisy and morality. What is really shocking about the video is MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan fails to call Rangel out for his outlandish statements.



H/T Weasel Zippers.

Congressman Charles Rangel Breaches Congressional Ethics to Fight Breach of Congressional Ethics?

Can a Congressman get any sleazier than this?

Congressman Charles Rangel, whose ethics trial starts tomorrow, appears to have improperly used political-action committee money to pay for his defense.

Rangel tapped his National Leadership PAC for $293,000 to pay his main legal-defense team this year. He took another $100,000 from the PAC in 2009 to pay lawyer Lanny Davis.

Two legal experts told The Post such spending is against House rules.

"It's a breach of congressional ethics," one campaign-finance lawyer said.

Charlie Rangel At 'One Nation' Rally: "Beck and Teabaggers" are not what America is about (video)

Charlie Rangel uses the sexual term "teabaggers" as he demeans the importance of the Tea Party movement in America. Rangel is either delusional or in denial.

Demos Delay Waters, Rangel Ethics Trials Until After Election?

It appears Democrats are in no hurry to conduct ethics trials of Maxine Waters or Charles Rangel before the November election. They appear to be saving this for a lame duck session. I wonder why?

The Hill reported:

The ethics committee, according to its rules, must turn over all evidence it plans to present in a trial to the member charged at least 15 days before the beginning of the trial. Even if the panel handed over their evidence to Rangel and Waters when they return this week, the trial could not begin until the beginning of October, one month before the general election and when members plan to be home to campaign.

Charlie Rangel's "I'm not going away speech" (video)

This video is for entertainment purposes only. Rangel is going away. He just hasn't come to terms with it yet.

Rangel Tries to Get Out of Ethics Charges by Having an Unethical Meeting?

There are allegations Charlie Rangel's attorney met privately with Democrats without a Republican from the Ethic Committee present. This could torpedo any hope Rangel has for a deal. At least one Republican has to agree and in the now heightened partisan atmosphere, that is unlikely to happen.

Politico reported via Hot Air:

Rep. Charles Rangel’s chances of cutting an ethics deal are in jeopardy over allegations that he met privately with Ethics Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) Monday night without any Republican members of the bipartisan panel present.

Rangel Using Campaign Cash to Pay Legal Bills

Charles Rangel, a key member of Pelosi's most ethical congress "evah," is using campaign money to pay his legal bills while fighting ethics charges. This is obscene.

The NY Daily News reported:

That leaves the Harlem Democrat with no choice but to run for, and win, a 21st term in the House to keep raising campaign money to pay legal fees - which top $1.7 million, records show.

"It's perverse - he's got to keep doing it," said Solomon Wisenberg... Read more here.

House Ethics Committee Drops Bomb on Charlie Rangel

A key member of Nancy Pelosi's 'most ethical congress ever' has been charged with multiple ethics violations. The exact nature of the charges hasn't been revealed. Stay tuned.

MSNBC reported:

A House investigative committee on Thursday charged New York Rep. Charles Rangel with multiple ethics violations, a blow to the former Ways and Means chairman and an election-year headache for Democrats.

The committee did not immediately specify the charges against the Democrat, who has served in the House for some 40 years and is fourth in House seniority. The announcement by a four-member panel of the House ethics committee sends the case to a House trial, where a separate eight-member panel of Republicans and Democrats will decide whether the violations can be proved by clear and convincing evidence.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel to Hand over His Gavel

The trickle of Democrats calling for Rangel's gavel had now turned into a flood. MSNBC is reporting Rangel will give up his chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means committee in the wake of his admonishment for accepting inappropriate trips. Rep. Charles Rangel faces an ongoing investigation for being a tax cheat among other ethical violations..

MSNBC reported:

WASHINGTON - After being admonished by an ethics panel for accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean, Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., will give his chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means committee, NBC News has learned...

But sources indicated Tuesday to NBC that Rangel has been encouraged to step aside before the House votes on a bill to strip him of his chairmanship.

"We don't have the votes to save him," one Democratic member said of Rangel.

FOX News Exposes Nancy Pelosi's Ethical Double Standard (video)

FOX News continues to do the job ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN won't. This time they point out the hypocrisy of Nancy Pelosi's changing position on ethics in the wake of House Ways and Means committee chairman Charles Rangel's admonishment. In 2004, Pelosi called for House Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay to step aside after he was admonished.

Pelosi's Ethical Double Standard?

Paul Krugman: Rangel Ethics Issue "Has No National Significance"

Paul Krugman wishes Charles Rangel would 'go away," but doesn't think his ethics problems are of any "national significance." When the head of the House tax writing committee has been admonished for accepting i8nappropriate trips and is under investigation for being a tax cheat, that is significant out here in fly-over country.

From the video:

GEORGE WILL, ABC NEWS: To know Charlie Rangel is to like him. Wonderful spirit and all that. Still, one has to wonder. Suppose a Republican had revised his disclosure form and suddenly his net worth doubled and he came upon not one but two checking accounts with $500,000 in them. I mean, there comes a point at which the tax writing committee be headed by someone without the...

ELIZABETH VARGAS, ABC NEWS: And Speaker Pelosi and Steny Hoyer were all calling for Tom DeLay to relinquish his post when he was also admonished by the ethics committee.

PAUL KRUGMAN, NEW YORK TIMES: Yeah, this is, you know, it is worth pointing out that none of these things actually seem to affect national policy. When Billy Townsend, when Billy Tauzin basically wrote the drug, the Medicare drug bill, then left to become head of the pharmaceutical lobby, that was much more serious, but it didn't actually violate House ethics rules. So, yeah, I'm unhappy with this. I wish Rangel would go away, but it's, it really has no national significance.

Democrats Turn On Charlie Rangel

Democrats are starting to call for House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) gavel. The House Ethics committee admonished Rangel this week for accepting the trips he shouldn't have.

Politico reported:

After months of holding ranks, some Democrats are finally turning on House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) in the wake of an ethics committee finding that he violated House rules by accepting a Caribbean junket.

Early Friday, Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) told POLITICO he wants Rangel to quit his powerful...

Cracks Begin to Appear in Support for Rangel

Democrats have resisted Republican efforts to remove accused tax cheat Charles Rangel from his powerful position as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Now, crack are beginning to appear in that support. Surprisingly, the weakening of support is coming from Rangel's own New York delegation.

Politico reported:

Politically vulnerable junior Democrats have been agitating with more senior counterparts to intervene -- either with Rangel or with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) -- in an attempt to ease Rangel out as Ways and Means chairman until the House ethics committee completes its review of the allegations against him, members tell POLITICO.

"The past month it's escalated," said one of the lawmakers...

Rep. Maxine Waters defends Rangel by alleging all Congressmen are crooks.

On MSNBC, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said Democratic Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Charles Rangel, should not step down from his powerful committee leadership position. Rangel is accused of under reporting over one million dollars in income during the 2002 to 2006 tax years. Rep. Maxine Waters said,

"I want to tell you, there are many members who, if you go back over all of their records, over all of the years, you're going to find that there were disclosures that were not made,

This isn't just a matter of disclosure. Rangel found $1.3 million in income he allegedly forgot to report. If Rangel were very rich, he might be able to overlook $1.3 million in income. He isn't. He has reported as little as $168 thousand in some recent income years. Rangel has a long history of tax problems.

The Hill reported:

"Many members" of Congress suffer from the same disclosure issues as Rep. Charles Rangel (D.N.Y.), one of his allies said Wednesday.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) downplayed the seriousness of allegations against Rangel that he failed to disclose sources of income and pay taxes on some properties, saying that many lawmakers suffer from innocent lapses in judgment when filing mandatory financial disclosure forms.

"I want to tell you, there are many members who, if you go back over all of their records, over all of the years, you're going to find that there were disclosures that were not made," Waters said during an appearance on MSNBC Wednesday morning.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) Finds $1.3 Million In His Couch. Democrats Yawn.

The good times are still rolling for Democrats accused of corruption. Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel has found $1.3 million in previously unreported income. Oh, Really? How do you lose track of $1.3 million? Perhaps it fell out of his pockets into his couch. Nancy Pelosi and members of the Congressional Black Caucus are aren't concerned unless something "insane" comes up. It is unclear what would meet their definition of insane. Rangel has a long history of tax problems. As the nations chief tax writer, he had no problem proposing we pay the largest tax increase in history.

The New York Post reported:

House Democrats are willing to rally around Rep. Charles Rangel in his latest spate of tax missteps -- but only as long as no more embarrassing revelations come to light, sources told The Post.

The head of the powerful Ways and Means Committee last week amended six years' worth of financial disclosure forms and revealed he'd earned $1.3 million in previously unreported income.

That's on top of ongoing House Ethics Committee probes into four other areas of Rangel's financial past -- including failure to properly report income taxes on a Caribbean villa he owns.

But unless the Ethics Committee probes hit Rangel with something more than a slap on the wrist -- or a bigger scandal arises -- Democrats are unlikely to push him off the Ways and Means Committee, a Washington insider said.

"He doesn't strike me as someone who would go quietly, and he's not afraid to play the race card on his own party," the DC source said.

Friends like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the New York delegation are committed to keeping Rangel in place, sources said.

"Unless he's done something absolutely insane that hasn't come out yet, he's protected," said a Democratic official.

Who is Obama's favorite tax cheat?

Their are several candidates based on his recent cabinet choices, but Rep. Charles Rangel may be the winner. Here is the story from the NY Post. (italics mine)

Here's a tip for President Obama: Next time you excoriate tax cheats, try to keep Rep. Charles Rangel's name out of the discussion.

Somehow, it doesn't further your case.

Yet that's precisely what Obama did Monday, singling out the powerful Harlem congressman for praise as he announced legislation meant to close what he calls tax "loopholes" for corporations that expand their operations abroad.

Rangel, of course, knows a thing or two about offshore tax shelters: He'd been operating one for years.

The congressman had to fork over nearly $11,000 in back taxes last year after The Post reported that he failed to disclose more than $75,000 in rental income on his Dominican Republic villa.

Plus, he's under investigation by a House committee for allegedly helping a company preserve its offshore tax loophole -- in exchange for a million-dollar gift to a school named in his honor.