The syndrome, which has been widely observed, but now named after notorious Democrat New York Congressman Charles Rangel, has spread to his staffers. They too seem to have forgotten to claim income on Congressional filings and are now rushing to correct the record.
Two of his top aides are among about a dozen highly paid staffers on the powerful tax-writing Ways and Means Committee who have filed a flurry of amendments correcting their financial-disclosure statements since 2002.There's no easy way to crack down on those who make these kinds of filings and then lie about income earned. One has to wonder whether these individuals also failed to report income to the IRS, but as we've seen, the IRS isn't too keen on cracking down on Rangel either. In fact, the House Ethics Committee isn't keen on acting either. Apparently several members of that panel got campaign fund boosts from Rangel (who as I noted yesterday is among the top Democrat fundraisers in the House).
Jim Capel, chief of staff for Rangel's personal office, failed to file any such statements for six years.
On the afternoon of July 14, Capel filed five years' worth of delinquent reports.
Capel told The Post yesterday it was a simple oversight.
"I am sorry for not making these filings in the timely manner as required," he said. "My failure was not done for no other reason than I just forgot to do so."
Another serial mis-filer working for Rangel is George Dalley, who is legal counsel in Rangel's personal office. Dalley has amended his statements four times since 2002.
In his 2007 statement, he failed to disclose as much as $150,000 in rental income on two properties in DC.
The House Ethics Committee also discovered that Dalley had failed to report as much as $45,000 in business transactions he made in 2006.
On his 2004 statement, he failed to report as much as $47,000 in income.
There may be a reason for Rangel's arrogance. CBS 2 HD has discovered that since ethics probes began last year the 79-year-old congressman has given campaign donations to 119 members of Congress, including three of the five Democrats on the House Ethics Committee who are charged with investigating him.It's little wonder then that, Rangel is now claiming that race is playing a role in the investigations.
Charlie's "angels" on the committee include Congressmen Ben Chandler of Kentucky, G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina and Peter Welch of Vermont. All have received donations from Rangel.
Embattled Rep. Charlie Rangel is pulling a David Paterson and playing the race card amid new allegations he gave campaign money to three Democrats on the ethics panel investigating him, according to published reports.Right Charlie. That asinine line of attack worked so well for NYS Gov. David Paterson? You refuse to accept fault for your actions, which are criminal and would have been treated as such if you were in any other position.
A few weeks ago, Gov. Paterson got slammed for blaming poor media coverage on "racial" stereotypes. He said President Obama would be under the microscope next.
And despite the flak the governor took for his comments, Charlie Rangel upped and did the same thing.
Rangel said yesterday that "bias" and "prejudice" toward Obama are spurring opposition to health-care reform, according to The New York Post.
The whole situation stinks to high heaven, but for Congress and Rangel in particular, it's business as usual.
UPDATE:
Don Surber links. Thanks! He lays into the Congressmen who were supposed to be taking Rangel to task for his ethics flaps, noting that they were getting themselves into one of their own for even accepting the money in the first place. Only one of the three members who got money from Rangel on the panel have returned it. He should never have taken it in the first place.
UPDATE:
Hot Air also notes that Rangel appears to have paid off committee members, and that the Washington Post has called for Rangel to go (which is to say step down from the Ways and Means Committee chairmanship).
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