Rangel Asks House to Go Easy on Him

House Representative Charles Rangel asked today for “fairness and mercy” as he awaits his sentencing from the ethics committee, which found him guilty on 11 counts of violating House ethics rules. The ethics panel will meet at noon Thursday to consider his sanction, although most have promised it will be nothing but a reprimand.

How can 40 witnesses, 30,000 pages of transcripts, over 550 exhibits measure against my forty years of service and commitment to this body I love so much? I ask the committee in reviewing the sanctions to take that into serious consideration, as well as the effects this ordeal has had on my wife, family and constituents. I hope my four decades of service merit a sanction that is in keeping with and no greater than House precedents and also contains a drop of fairness and mercy.

In speaking, Rangel finally admitted to wrongdoing in making his financial disclosures over the years, but did not go into any specifics about his "omission." 

I would say he made mistakes. Any non-politician would've been fined into bankruptcy or in jail. He is a disgrace. A reprimand is a joke and so is the ethics process.

Rangel's Senseless Rant

No one understands why Charles Rangel stood before the House despite admonishments from both his counsel and friends not to take the floor. It seems as if he simply wanted to paint himself a martyr and attempt to force the ethics committee to hold his trial before the November elections despite the further damage it could do to his party in the elections. Most congressmen, after serving 40 years, would think of their party and duck away without a public trial, but not ego-bloated Charlie, who, like a five-year-old, used the word "me" at least five times in his speech.   

Another Democrat in Hot Waters

Rangel isn't the only House member in trouble of late. Today, the House ethics committee released three ethics charges against Democratic Representative Maxine Waters of California. The charges accuse Waters of aiding a bank with which she was personally connected in getting federal bailout assistance. Specifically, Waters organized a meeting between officials within the Treasury Department and executives from OneUnited Bank, where her husband was once a board member and had large investments. The bank then received a $12 million bailout from the federal government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).  

Obviously, Waters should have recused herself from the treasury's dealings with OneUnited to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Instead, she and her staff remained intimately involved and took official action for her and her family's personal benefit. She was also charged with receiving compensation for exerting improper influence from her position as her husband's investments constituted compensation.

Waters, unsurprisingly, just as indignant as Rangel, defended her assistance to OneUnited as an effort on behalf of minority-owned businesses. She said she was innocent, and like Rangel, has vowed to face a public trial rather than settle and admit, at the least, an egregiously stupid lapse of judgment. 

I wonder if she'll be attending Rangel's 80th birthday party on Wednesday at the Plaza? 

Horrendously Overpaid Town Administrators Step Down but Secure Handsome Pensions

The three highest paid administrators in Bell, California, whose high six-figure salaries attracted an angry town mob outside of Los Angeles have resigned. Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo, paid $787,637, Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia, paid $376,288, and Police Chief Randy Adams, paid $457,000, are stepping down in response to a screaming town mob who individual income averages $24,000 annually. 

However, their resignations will not end the looting, as they will all receive very hefty pensions. Rizzo would be entitled to a state pension of more than $650,000 a year for life, which would make him, at 56, the highest-paid retiree in the California pension system. Adams is eligible for $411,000 a year while Spaccia, 51, could retain close to $250,000 a year when she reaches age 55.

To make matters worse, the meeting, held behind closed doors by the town council and mayor, did not address the overpayment of the five town council members paid close to $100,000 annually for part-time work. In defense of council pay, the mayor said, "We work a lot. I work with my community every day." A council member added, "[We] are on call around the clock, and it is not uncommon for [us] to take calls in the middle of the night from people reporting problems with city services."

Luckily, the county district attorney's office is investigating to determine if the high salaries for the council members violate any state laws. Also, the town has launched an investigation in conjunction with the state's public employee retirement agency into pension and related benefits for Bell's civic leaders. Let's hope they can prevent the massive pensions from being paid to these thieves who looted this town for almost two decades. Of course, knowing the California judicial system, they will keep their pensions.

Rangel Charged with Ethics Violations

After a long investigation, a panel within the House ethics committee charged Harlem Representative Charles Rangel with multiple ethics violations involving his use of political power and influence to push legislation and raise money for his namesake, the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York. The charges also surrounded his use of four rent-controlled apartments in New York, as the city's rent stabilization program is supposed to apply to one's primary residence only. Finally, the panel charged him with failing to publicly report the rental income from a unit within the Punta Cana Yacht Club in the Dominican Republic as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets such as a credit union IRA, mutual funds and stocks.

As a result of the charges levied, the case will proceed to a House trial, where a panel of eight Republicans and Democrats will decide whether the violations can be proven by clear and convincing evidence. The committee has a variety of options if they find the charges proven, which range from expulsion from the House, reprimand, a fine or no action. (The last lawmaker to face a public trial, in 2002, was Ohio Representative James Traficant, a Democrat, who ended up in prison.) 

Since the Democrats already stripped Rangel of his chairmanship of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee due to an initial scandal involving the corporate sponsorship of two trips to Caribbean conferences, what more can, or will, they do to old Charlie? Apparently, he was worried enough about the answer to that question to try to strike a deal. Officials said that in the current case, Rangel's attorney tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a settlement which would have required Rangel to agree that he violated ethics rules. Perhaps he thinks that indictments could follow? They should. Everyone is sick of politicians passing legislation to further curtail the control we have over our lives and money while simultaneously refusing to obey them. Stay tuned...the hearing starts Thursday.

First Sestak, Now Romanoff?

Apparently, Joe Sestak wasn't the only Democratic primary candidate that the White House attempted to bribe to ensure the reelection of a crotchety incumbent. Former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff stated that last year, the White House also offered him a government job in exchange for his exit from the primary in order to ensure Senator Michael Bennet's win. However, the informants spoke on condition of anonymity and said they were not authorized to discuss private conversations. White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said, "There were some initial conversations with him but no job was ever offered." The primary is August 10, 2010.

Again, not hopey changey politics, but politics as usual.

Rahm Pins Sestak Bribe on Billy Bob

The White House finally formulated a strategy in case Congress appoints a special prosecutor to investigate Joe Sestak's claim that he was offered a job to stay out of the Senatorial primary race in PA - Bill Clinton did it. This was the case, according to President Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel claims he used Clinton as an intermediary to see if Sestak would drop out of the primary if given a "prominent, but unpaid, advisory position." The White House argued that there was no impropriety in asking Clinton for a favor. The Justice Department is looking into whether the solicitation violated the Hatch Act, the act governing the political conduct of federal employees.

So much for cleaning up Washington.

Republicans Demanding Special Prosecutor for Alleged Sestak Bribe

The seven Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee formally asked Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Joe Sestak's claim that a White House official offered him a job to induce him to bow out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary race against Arlen Specter. The seven allege that the attempted White House arm twisting violated federal criminal laws forbidding the promise of a government position for a favor or “in connection with any primary election or political convention or caucus held to select candidates for any political office.” After all, Sestak is the one who told a reporter in February that the White House official committed a felony despite the fact that the White House lawyers denied it and judged everything “perfectly appropriate.”

Of course, the GOP will not take the word of the Obama lawyers regarding the people who hired them. They wrote that they “do not believe the Department of Justice can properly defer to White House lawyers to investigate a matter that could involve ‘a serious breach of the law.’ The White House cannot possibly manage an internal investigation of potential criminal misconduct while simultaneously crafting a public narrative to rebut the claim that misconduct occurred.” Indeed.

Holder will resist this probe until it becomes politically unfeasible and then he will relent. As although I believe special prosecutors are only marginally more insightful than White House lawyers, I think that Sestak's allegations raise serious issues that merit an investigation. The White House may legally make deals to muscle through legislation, but this is an altogether different, illegal breed of strong arming.

Obama's Attempted Bribe

Congressman Darrell Issa is toying with the idea of filing an ethics complaint against fellow House member Joe Sestak, the winner of the Senatorial Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. Issa claims that Sestak's refusal to respond to questions about an alleged quid pro quo wherein the White House offered Sestak a job within the administration in exchange for dropping out of the primary to allow White House buddy Arlen Specter to receive the nomination. Issa claims that the charges could amount to felony bribery and election interference.

Sestak admitted in February that the administration made the offer, but he refuses to elaborate on the details. At the time Sestak said he got quite a few calls and refused the offer as bowing out of the race would "hurt the democratic process." Sestak is now quietly trying to protect his frenemies in the White House since he'll need their support to win the election in November. Issa isn't standing for it and said that "either Congressman Sestak is lying, which would be an ethical violation, or he is covering up three felonies by members of the administration, which of course would be an ethical violation."

More Bad news for Pelosi: Massa Accused of Harassment, Will Resign Monday

New York Democratic Rep. Eric Massa said today that he would resign from Congress on Monday. His statement came after the revelation that he was under investigation by the House ethics committee for sexually harassing a male staffer by using words that he admitted "might make a Chief Petty Officer feel uncomfortable." Although he owned up to it, he immediately opined that "with the destruction of our elected leaders having become a blood sport, especially in talk radio and on the internet," his family would be "torn apart" by an ethics investigation. Massa’s resignation is a second blow to Speaker Pelosi after Rangel stepped down from his powerful committee chair earlier this week. Moreover, two other House Democrats from Pelosi's state, Reps. Maxine Waters and Laura Richardson, remain under investigation and could also be forced out of office. Massa may leave Pelosi that much farther from her goal of passing the Senate's health care bil this month.

Rangel "Temporarily" Retires His Gavel

Rangel finally asked for a leave of absence from his chairmanship of the House Ways & Means Committee until the ethics committee completes its investigation into his alleged improprieties involving the use of his official position to raise money for a New York college center in his name, his belated disclosure of at least hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets, his use of rent-controlled apartments in New York and espeically, his violation of gift rules in connection with a series of trips he took to the Caribbean. Specifically, the panel found that he "violated standards of conduct by accepting 2007 and 2008 trips to Caribbean conferences that were financed by corporations." Conveniently, it said it could not prove whether Rangel knew of the corporate sponsorship, but that members of his staff knew about them and he was responsible for that. Rangel claimed he was clueless regarding the corporate sponsorship and begged not to be held responsible for something his staff members "may have known." Hmmm, remember the golf trip certain Republican members took with Jack Abramoff? It seems Pelosi's promise to drain the swamp of ethics problems after Republican's "culture of corruption" will swallow up a few of her own.