Sorry, Charlie; the game is over

If only you had read my column a year ago and resigned, as I suggested, you could have been enjoying yourself this summer rather than be dealing with an ever-widening mess.

Rep. Charles B. Rangel
House of Representatives
Washington

Dear Charlie:

If only you had read my column a year ago and resigned, as I suggested, you could have been enjoying yourself this summer rather than be dealing with an ever-widening mess.

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, look what you have done.

You were once one of the most powerful members of Congress.

Now a growing number of Democrats are asking you to step down.

In laying out 13 charges of ethical violations you allegedly committed, the House ethics committee has set the stage for a very rare public trial this fall.

Even though you thrive as the center of attention, that probably doesn’t make you feel good. You must feel some remorse for the embarrassment that you have caused the Democratic leadership during this election season — making it easy for the Republican opposition to point fingers and throw stones.

But maybe all that doesn’t bother you; it is tough to embarrass you, Charlie.

You must be huddling with your lawyers every day because you have just a few weeks to review the evidence before your trial begins next month.

Hey Charlie, that is the heart of the congressional campaign season. But you already knew that, didn’t you?

If it holds a public trial, the ethics committee could recommend acquittal, censure or expulsion. There is talk that the subcommittee that investigated you has recommended that you face just a reprimand.

That was the same mild form of punishment given to Newt Gingrich when he was rebuked in 1997.

Charlie, I may sound like a broken record, but spare the public ordeal of a trial and resign.

Take a look in the mirror. You are an 80-year-old man.

Enough is enough.

You had to relinquish the powerful chairman’s position on the House Ways and Means Committee when the ethics committee admonished you for accepting a corporate-sponsored trip.

And let’s face it — your inaccuracies in disclosing assets and income, along with other ethical eyebrow raisers, were sufficiently egregious to warrant stepping down from your powerful perch.

Most of us ordinary taxpayers were amazed that you were allowed to continue serving as chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee while the ethics committee investigated you. After all, if any of us non-powerful folk handled and reported our finances the way you did, we would be in very hot water.

I mean, Charlie, how is it OK for the nation’s lead tax writer to neglect to submit a required financial-disclosure report? Call me naive, but I always thought people in power should lead by example.

The ethics committee’s 40-page report stated that your “actions reflected poorly on the institution of the House and, thereby, brought discredit to the House.”

Ouch!

Charlie, the report said that you not only improperly used your office to solicit donations for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College in New York but also personally sought donations of as much as $30 million from registered lobbyists whose corporations had business before Congress.

The report also said you failed to report and pay taxes on rental income from your Dominican villa.

What’s more, you also improperly accepted rent-stabilized apartments from a Manhattan developer.

Did you really use one of those apartments as a campaign office? What the heck were you thinking?

Rather than appear at the recent ethics committee meeting, you issued a written response denying “each and every allegation,” and criticizing the committee’s report as “deeply flawed in its factual premises and legal theories.”

Sorry, Charlie; it simply isn’t going work this time. The game is over.

Jim Pavia is the editor of –InvestmentNews.