It turns out that U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York was just wasting time in trying to evade the punishment of censure that his colleagues in the House of Representatives had in mind for his ethical violations.
But in an overwhelming vote Thursday, Rangel became just the 23rd House member to receive censure, which required Rangel to stand before the House like a misbehaving schoolboy and be chastised by the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
All that happened after the House voted 333-79 to censure the veteran lawmaker from Harlem who fought in recent days to have the censure reduced to a simple reprimand, a lighter punishment.
Last month, Rangel was convicted by the House Ethics Committee last month of 11 violations including tax evasion, filing misleading financial statements and improperly seeking money from corporations.
While Rangel's 40 years of service in the House on behalf of New Yorkers is a credit to his record, the scandal of the past two years will add a thick layer of tarnish to his accomplishments.
Even in his short statement on the House floor after the vote, Rangel came up a clunker when talking of the "political" nature of the vote against him. But if the vote was so political, why did a large majority of his fellow Democrats also vote in favor of censure instead of the lighter punishment?
Perhaps they heard from angry constituents who have grown weary of regular people having to follow one set of rules and lawmakers, who should be held to greater scrutiny, following a whole separate set of regulations.
Rangel avoided paying all his taxes on his vacation home in the Dominican Republic for 17 years. I fear where I would end up if I was lucky enough to have a summer home in the Dominican and decided not to give Uncle Sam his full cut.
Rangel has also repeated that while he made mistakes, none of them benefited him financially.
Charlie! Keeping money from the government to keep in your pockets benefits you financially. Any school kid can see that.
It's good that the Rangel saga is now over. The old lawmaker has been sufficiently punished for his misdeeds. He gets to go back to his office and serve the people of Harlem. And the nation can see that a silver tongue and friends in high places can't always get you off the hook when you do wrong.
16-Nov-10 - Forty-five years after he was killed by an Alabama State Trooper, Jimmie Lee Jackson, whose death lead to the first civil rights march on Selma, he is finally getting a small measure of justice.
12-Nov-10 - In a case better suited for Judge Mathis, Paula Cook is proceeding with her civil suit against Fantasia Barrino for an antiquated legal cause of action called "Alienation of Affection" in a North Carolina court.
Can someone tell me what is the big deal about being censure, because I don't get it. The punishment could have been much worse,Charlie could have been expelled.
How would you like for your boss to convene a meeting of all company employees in the conference room and invite you to appear before them whereby you are admonished, ridiculed, shamed, disgraced, dishonored, spoken to like a child, treated less of an honorable man,and accused of being everything but a child of God because of what you have been convicted of...falsely or otherwise... that reflects poorly on the company you work for? How would you like to stand before your colleagues and friends at work and have them treat you in this manner?
There is one thing you must understand about rich, famous and powerful people and that is there is NO greater punishment than having their NAME tarnished and publicly dragged through the mud. Wealth, power and social prestige accrue to these people because of their name, who they are and what they represent. If you destroy these attributes surrounding such people, then you destroy them!
It is a BIG deal being censured by the Congress before your colleagues, friends and especially in the presence of your ENEMIES!!!
The farce will play out beyond the elections to appear tuf on ethics & his district sheep will return. Him. After all, it has to be a black man to represent Harlem. http://musclexedgereview.com
I believe he should be punished but to be censured is nothing more than a public oral lynching to disgraced, demote and strip him of his power in congress..that's the purpose of a congressional censure. He might as well retire now.
IMPO, depending on Rangel's past record(of which I'm not aware of).. if Rangel's record is basically clean outside of the facts presented with regard to ethical violations..then a strong reprimand would have been suitable.
The 22 censures before Rangel were given for a lot less. I'm still waiting to see the CRIMINAL CHARGES filed against RANGLE.. or is this the plea settlement ..to avoid criminal charges and possible jail time? Or is this a move on the democrats as far as timing-to stay ahead of this and not face the opposition (PUBS) and constituents in 2012? Which is it? I say the latter!
ALL THOSE IN GOVERNMENT, FROM THE TOP TO THE BOTTOM ARE CROOKS AND THIEVES. AMERICANS ARE VERY WEAK WHEN IT COMES TO STANDING UP AGAINST THE CORRUPTION THAT HAS BROUGHT US TO THIS POINT. OUR SYSTEM IS SO SCREWED UP! PEOPLE IN 3RD WORLD COUNTRIES HAVE MORE HEART AND STREGTH THAN US. YOU MAY NOT LIKE THIS, BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS. WE ARE BEING SCAMMED BY OUR OWN GOVERNMENT!
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Comments: (7)
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By: sin on 12/03/2010 11:30AM
Can someone tell me what is the big deal about being censure, because I don't get it. The punishment could have been much worse,Charlie could have been expelled.
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By: gerald on 12/04/2010 2:05AM
The big deal is he didnt get expelled and get prison time like W Snipes.
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By: Eclectic Thinker on 12/04/2010 10:48AM
@sin:
How would you like for your boss to convene a meeting of all company employees in the conference room and invite you to appear before them whereby you are admonished, ridiculed, shamed, disgraced, dishonored, spoken to like a child, treated less of an honorable man,and accused of being everything but a child of God because of what you have been convicted of...falsely or otherwise... that reflects poorly on the company you work for? How would you like to stand before your colleagues and friends at work and have them treat you in this manner?
There is one thing you must understand about rich, famous and powerful people and that is there is NO greater punishment than having their NAME tarnished and publicly dragged through the mud. Wealth, power and social prestige accrue to these people because of their name, who they are and what they represent. If you destroy these attributes surrounding such people, then you destroy them!
It is a BIG deal being censured by the Congress before your colleagues, friends and especially in the presence of your ENEMIES!!!
Report This
By: trevordoughty on 12/04/2010 4:02AM
The farce will play out beyond the elections to appear tuf on ethics & his district sheep will return. Him. After all, it has to be a black man to represent Harlem.
http://musclexedgereview.com
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By: Deut818 on 12/05/2010 1:17PM
I believe he should be punished but to be censured is nothing more than a public oral lynching to disgraced, demote and strip him of his power in congress..that's the purpose of a congressional censure. He might as well retire now.
IMPO, depending on Rangel's past record(of which I'm not aware of).. if Rangel's record is basically clean outside of the facts presented with regard to ethical violations..then a strong reprimand would have been suitable.
The 22 censures before Rangel were given for a lot less. I'm still waiting to see the CRIMINAL CHARGES filed against RANGLE.. or is this the plea settlement ..to avoid criminal charges and possible jail time? Or is this a move on the democrats as far as timing-to stay ahead of this and not face the opposition (PUBS) and constituents in 2012? Which is it? I say the latter!
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By: olanzo38 on 12/06/2010 8:20AM
ALL THOSE IN GOVERNMENT, FROM THE TOP TO THE BOTTOM ARE CROOKS AND THIEVES. AMERICANS ARE VERY WEAK WHEN IT COMES TO STANDING UP AGAINST THE CORRUPTION THAT HAS BROUGHT US TO THIS POINT. OUR SYSTEM IS SO SCREWED UP! PEOPLE IN 3RD WORLD COUNTRIES HAVE MORE HEART AND STREGTH THAN US. YOU MAY NOT LIKE THIS, BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS. WE ARE BEING SCAMMED BY OUR OWN GOVERNMENT!
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By: stan on 12/06/2010 11:15AM
If you think you're being scammed and you allow it then you're not being scammed you're getting what you deserve.
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