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Ethics chief counsel recommends censure for Rangel

November 18th, 2010 . by TexasFred
Ethics chief counsel recommends censure for Rangel

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House ethics committee’s chief counsel recommended Thursday that veteran Rep. Charles Rangel be censured for financial and fundraising misconduct as lawmakers neared closure on an embarrassing 2 1/2-year-long scandal.

Chief counsel Blake Chisam called for the punishment despite the veteran New York congressman’s plea, in a prepared statement in advance of the hearing, for “a drop of fairness and mercy.”

If Chisam’s recommendation is carried out, it would be the most serious punishment short of expulsion that could be meted out by the House. Chisam and Rangel argued their positions at a public hearing on sanctions, where the 80-year-old congressman acknowledged making mistakes in handling his finances and said he wasn’t there to “retry this case.”

He did say he wished the committee would weigh, in considering its vote on punishment, how the House had handled previous cases involving lawmakers who were enriched by activities they undertook that were judged to be in violation of the chamber’s rules.

Full Story Here:
Ethics chief counsel recommends censure for Rangel

Censure? That’s it? That’s ALL Rangel is going to get?

censure – noun
1. strong or vehement expression of disapproval: The newspapers were unanimous in their censure of the tax proposal.

2. an official reprimand, as by a legislative body of one of its members.

That’s not even a slap on the wrist. And folks, this is what you get when the FOX guards the hen house. The FOX, in this case, being Rangel’s fellow Congress Critters.

The picture says it all.

That paper Rangel has in his hands? It’s mislabeled. It should read The U.S. Constitution. And we all know what Rangel is going to do with it once he gets to the ‘out house’. I just don’t believe reading it is on his agenda.

Censure? These ass-hats in Congress have wasted many hours of investigation and untold millions of TAX PAYER DOLLARS and all they can come up with is a censure?

Little Charlie: “LaLaLaLaLaLaLaLa…”

Little Charlies Mother: “Now Charlie, be a dear and use your *indoor* voice…”

That is a censure.

A censure boils down to a correction, a verbal reprimand, and it equates to little more than saying nothing at all. It means Rangel is free to proceed with his shenanigans as a Member of Congress. It means that many of his fellow Congressmen are as crooked as is Rangel himself.

Rangel spoke calmly without notes as he faced the committee. He repeatedly denied he was corrupt or crooked, sparking a clash with Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas.

McCaul questioned whether Rangel’s conduct was, in fact, corrupt.

He noted that Rangel targeted donors for a college center named after him, people who had legislative issues that Rangel could influence in the Ways and Means Committee.

Rangel, McCaul added, didn’t pay taxes on his Dominican Republic villa for 17 years.

“Failure to pay taxes for 17 years. What is that?” McCaul asked. He noted that former Rep. James Traficant, who was expelled after a felony conviction, didn’t pay taxes for just two years.

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Rep. Maxine Waters to face ethics charges

July 31st, 2010 . by TexasFred

Rep. Maxine Waters to face ethics charges

WASHINGTON (AP) — A House investigative panel has decided to charge Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California with ethics violations, raising the possibility of a second high-profile trial with political implications for Democrats this fall.

People familiar with the investigation, who were not authorized to be quoted about unannounced charges, say the allegations could be announced next week. The House ethics committee declined Friday to make any public statement on the matter.

Waters has been under investigation for a possible conflict of interest involving a bank that was seeking federal aid. Her husband owned stock in the bank.

New York Democrat Rep. Charles Rangel also faces an ethics trial this fall on separate charges that included failure to disclose assets and income, nonpayment of taxes and doing legislative favors for donors to a college center named after him.

Full Story Here:
Rep. Maxine Waters to face ethics charges

Ya know, this just isn’t looking good for the Dems but I’m fairly certain that if they did ANY serious digging at all, they would find grounds to place at least 75% of the House on trial for ethics violations.

To paraphrase from the Rangel post: “But Waters can’t be unethical, she’s an esteemed, long serving elected official. This is being done strictly because Maxine Waters is Black and the entire U.S. Congress is a bunch of racists.”Ethics Inquiry of Rangel Finds Evidence of Violations

Both Waters and Rangel are prominent members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Dual ethics trials would be a major political liability for Democrats, forcing them to defend their party’s ethical conduct while trying to hold on to their House majority.

Those people on the House ethics committee are obviously racists. How dare they bring charges against Rangel and Waters NOW? Surely they must ALL be members of the Congressional WHITE Caucus.

Wait… There is NO Congressional WHITE Caucus. :?

Waters came under scrutiny after former Treasury Department officials said she helped arrange a meeting between regulators and executives at Boston-based OneUnited Bank without mentioning her husband’s financial ties to the institution.

Well, you know, you need to give Maxine a break. It just slipped her mind, there was no criminal intent, these guys at Treasury are a bunch of TEA Party racists and are only picking on Waters because she’s BLACK!

The real Maxine Waters. WARNING: LANGUAGE ALERT!

That is an example of Maxine Waters and her supporters. I don’t know what it has to do with this particular charge of ethics violations, but I found it interesting, and thought my readers may too!


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