Saturday, July 31, 2010
Rift in Democrat Party Over Charlie Rangel: Obama Wants Him Out But Hill Dems Eyes Only a Wrist Slap
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Although you won’t find this reading in the Obama suck up media, I don’t see how anybody can interpret the president’s comments yesterday concerning the situation New York Rep Charlie Rangel is in facing an ethics trial as anything other than, “Resign now and go far away from here!”
Obama’s approval ratings continue to plummet thanks to his job-killing, big government policies and the last thing he needs is for Charlie Rangel to be given only a slap on the wrist despite the mountain of evidence pointing to his sleazy corruption.
Has Obama lost that much juice within the Democrat Party that his call for Rangel’s resignation as subtle as it was, falls totally on deaf ears?
Personally, I hope Rangel fights tooth and nail because it will be better than watching Snooki falling down drunk on Jersey Shore.
But, this is defiantly a rift in the Democrat Party that “state controlled” media doesn’t want to report it as such.
New York Post
If Rep. Charles Rangel was looking for support from President Obama, he'd better not get his hopes up.
Obama last night called the ethics charges against Rangel "very troubling" and sharply noted that the embattled Harlem Democrat is "at the end of his career."
"I think Charlie Rangel served a very long time and served his constituents very well. But these allegations are very troubling," Obama said on the "CBS Evening News" in his first comments on the Rangel scandal.
"He's somebody who's at the end of his career. Eighty years old. I'm sure that what he wants is to be able to end his career with dignity. And my hope is that it happens."
Earlier, it was revealed that the House ethics panel has recommended only a slap on the wrist for Rangel -- a formal reprimand.
Government watchdog groups and other critics ripped the proposed punishment -- the weakest in the House's arsenal -- as outrageously lenient given the severity of the allegations.
"The substantial number of violations against Congressman Rangel make a reprimand totally inappropriate. It's ridiculous," said Melanie Sloan, director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
The charges include failing to pay taxes on the villa he owned in the Dominican Republic; not reporting huge amounts of assets and income on his financial disclosure statements; improperly soliciting funds from entities with business before his committee to finance a "Charles Rangel Center" at CCNY; and receiving a rent-stabilized apartment that he improperly used as a campaign office.
The House ethics committee report showed that Rangel failed to report as much as $1.7 million in personal assets over the past 12 years.
That's much higher than previous estimates of less than $1 million based on the congressman's financial disclosure forms for 2002 to 2007.
Meanwhile, nervous Democratic Congress members are beginning to abandon Rangel's shaky ship.
Two -- John Yarmouth (Ky.) and Zack Space (Ohio) -- yesterday called on Rangel to resign.
But the head of the investigatory panel that conducted the two-year probe of Rangel revealed that they want to let him off with only a reprimand.
"The recommendation that we have is a reprimand," Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) told reporters.
A reprimand would have to be approved by the full House ethics committee and then the House itself.
The light admonishment falls short of censure or expulsion from Congress and doesn't even require an apology.
Full story
Via New York Post
Via Memeorandum
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