Sorry Charlie

So, Rep. Charles Rangel's (D-NY) neighbors are realizing that there's a double standard in how Rangel was treated and how they are treated when it comes to rent stabilized housing in the Olnick Organization's Lenox Towers in Harlem. They say that they would never get the kind of preferential treatment had they broken the rules as Rangel had done.

Although landlord-tenant battles, especially in rent-stabilized buildings, are a staple of New York life, residents and housing advocates say that after the Harlem real estate market began to soar around 2000, the situation at Lenox Terrace grew intense. The Olnick Organization, the owner of the development, brought in a new manager at that time and began aggressively seeking to evict tenants from rent-stabilized units.

While some of those evicted were clearly in violation of rent laws, tenants say the company went beyond those cases, pressuring legitimate residents to give up their homes.

Rangel has been in violation of the rent laws from the moment he began using that fourth apartment as a campaign office. He says he's given up the use of that apartment, but the damage had been done. Some other family in Harlem lost out on the opportunity to use that apartment as their home for years.

Rangel didn't seem to mind taking advantage of the system, and that sense of entitlement carries over to other ethical misconduct that may get him in more serious trouble. He's holding a presser this morning to discuss the fact he used Congressional letterhead to solicit contributions to his future library.

Use of official congressional letterhead for these solicitations is a potential violation of House ethics rules. Lawmakers and a liberal watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, have already called on the House ethics committee to launch an investigation into the matter.

Given that the House Democrats haven't exactly jumped to clean up the most unethical Congress in history, don't expect them to jump ugly on one of the most senior Democrats in the country and the most powerful member of the New York delegation.

After all, if Nancy Pelosi wouldn't go after Rep. William Jefferson after he was found holding $90,000 in cold cash stashed in his freezer, they're going to be less likely to do so on what they'll call a minor ethical violation.