Free Republic

Three Democratic leadership aides told Reuters they were unable to confirm or comment on the NBC report. A fourth indicated that no immediate announcements were planned. NBC quoted a Democratic House member as saying the party did not have the votes to save Rangel, who has faces calls from Republicans and some Democrats to step down as chairman. Representative Sander Levin of Michigan or Representative Pete Stark of California may temporarily take over as chairman, NBC said, citing congressional leadership sources. NBC quoted unidentified sources as saying Rangel has been encouraged to step aside before the House votes on a...

First it was NBC and then ABC and the internet went crazy, the reports all said that America's dirtiest Congressman was about to give up his Chairmanship of the most powerful committee in the House, The Ways and Means Committee. After being admonished by an ethics panel for accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean, Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., will give his chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means committee, NBC News has learned. The top spot may temporarily go to Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., according to leadership sources, or to Rep. Pete Stark of California, the committee's second-ranking Democrat....

Last night the House Ethics Committee publicly admonished Charlie Rangel, the House Ways and Means Committee Charmian for participating in junkets to the Caribbean sponsored by corporations and lobbyists and violating house rules by letting corporations pay for his Caribbean trips. One of the sponsors of the Junkets in question was Citigroup -- a banking giant whose employees and political action committee, when taken together, represent his most generous campaign donor during the past two decades. Also Opensecrets.com reports that Rangel ranks among the top all-time congressional and presidential beneficiaries of Citigroup's political donations. Rangel on the other hand, claims...

Maybe when City College of NY is done building Charlie Rangel's favorite Pork project, the $1.95 million, federal earmark funded Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service one of the first courses they could teach is "Playing Fast and Loose with Ethics 101." This past year, Americans have gotten to see the true nature of Congressman Rangel. He may have been a public servant for almost 40 years, but throughout that time he has found ways to enrich his favorite constituent, Charlie Range. In September of 2008 he admitted a failure to report $75 thousand in taxes. What has followed...

Sometimes there is nothing like a good fantasy, movies like Princess Bride, Wizard of Oz are classics for children and adults alike. Fantasy is not supposed to be a way to describe the reports filed by politician, but in the case of Charlie Rangel, chairman of the house Ways and Means committee fantasy is the only way to describe them. Much has been written about Rangel's revised financial disclosure form and all that new income that mysteriously turned up in his latest report. One of Rangel's properties that was was shown to earn income in Charlie's revised report, but in...

Remember when Nancy Pelosi made that famous promise? "This will be the most ethical congress ever." Despite all the evidence that Rangel should be taking a "perp walk" rather than the position of Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Pelosi says she is waiting for the House Ethics Committee to complete its wide-ranging investigation before she makes a decision about Rangel..Why is Pelosi supporting Charlie Rangel and ignoring the volume of evidence against him? Its not because of any long standing friendship of loyalty, its because she needs to protect her own political butt:

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) has renewed his call for Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) to resign as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. “When it comes to the relationship between the American people and those they elect to serve them, trust is everything,” Boehner wrote in a letter to Rangel sent Friday. “This is especially true at a difficult time such as this for our nation, when Americans are looking to their government for leadership and solutions, and finding both in short supply. “For this reason, I am writing to again respectfully urge that you step aside as...

Remember that promise made by Nancy Pelosi? "This will be the most ethical congress ever." There are many examples of how that was an empty promise, the latest of which is her support of Charlie Rangel. Despite all the evidence that Rangel should be taking a "perp walk" rather than the position of Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Pelosi says she is waiting for the House Ethics Committee to complete its wide-ranging investigation before she makes a decision about Rangel. Others are Not waiting. Today the left wing newspaper, The Washington Post repeated its call for...

FOR POLITICIANS with major bad news to release or to make public, there's no time like the dead of August to do it. The thinking goes that the public won't remember a thing come September. We hope Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) will have no such luck. His belated revelation of previously unreported income, property and bank accounts demands that he step aside as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Mr. Rangel's amended financial disclosure form, which exposes omissions from his 2002 through 2006 records, is a treasure trove of outrage. He neglected to report a checking account...

Charlie Rangel, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the committee that writes the tax law, wants the IRS to get tough on taxpayers even if they make unintentional mistakes. Yes THAT Charlie Rangel. The one who is constantly getting caught "forgetting" about his income. * In September he admitted a failure to report $75 thousand in taxes. * He was discovered taking a tax break for people whose primary residence was in Washington DC, but if his primary residence was in DC he couldn't be congressman representing NYC. And besides, he was occupying four rent controlled controlled...

The Wall Street Journal says that Charlie Rangel has “won the personal lottery.” Rangel, Chairman of the Ways and Means committee, is now being investigated for failing to report up to $780,000 in income and assets. Those who defend Rangel claim that this was an accident. But Larry Kudlow wants to know how it is possible that someone does not know he has a $500,000 checking account. It is, of course, possible that Rangel made a mistake (or rather, several mistakes). But even if that is all he did, his actions have serious implications for the healthcare debate. The Democrats...

Maybe its just a matter of not being able to relate, after all, I don't own a house worth one Million Dollars and I don't think I know anyone with a house like that, but how the hell do you forget you own a home worth a million dollars? Well Charlie Rangel Forgot ! Earlier this week the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the group that writes the tax law, admitted that his financial disclosure forms omitted about half his net worth. Most of that missed net worth comes in the form of one Town House worth...

(Text of Amendments and Votes @ link) Democrats Refuse to Let Americans Keep the Insurance They Have and Like 2 out of 3 will lose their health insurance Democrats voted against an amendment offered by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to strike the government-run plan. When speaking before the American Medical Association, President Obama stated that, “If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.” However, the Democrats government-run plan breaks this promise. According to two independent studies: The government-run plan will result in...

Leadership: Scores of congressmen and women are trying to hide from their constituents this August recess as the revolt over ObamaCare continues. If you haven't seen him or her lately, you might try your refrigerator.IBD Exclusive Series: Government-Run Healthcare: A Prescription For FailureIt's amazing how frightened of the community the party of the great community organizer has become now that the community has organized itself against his attempt to impose socialized medicine on the country. They cheered when he told them to get in the faces of their opponents. Now they won't show their faces, period. Senate Majority Whip Dick...

Rangel to Remain as Committee Chief By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI and RAYMOND HERNANDEZ Representative Charles B. Rangel will not step down from the chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee, despite pressure from Republicans and others who say his leadership is being undermined by his swirling ethical problems. Mr. Rangel’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, told reporters during a conference call on Tuesday that the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, supports his decision to remain in the chairmanship. The announcement came after Mr. Rangel, the 78-year-old Harlem Democrat, met behind closed doors on Monday with the speaker and other party leaders. Mr. Davis...

NEW YORK (CBS) - A new set of potential problems in Rep. Charles Rangel's financial papers has prompted the tax-writing lawmaker to decide to hire a forensic accounting expert to try to unravel the mess. Rangel, chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, is already the subject of ethics committee investigations on several fronts, including unreported income and unpaid taxes on his beach house in the Dominican Republic. Despite Republican calls for Rangel to be stripped of his Ways and Means Committee chairmanship, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CBS 2 HD it is not going...

WASHINGTON - House Democrats, insistent that they will hold lawmakers to higher standards, decided Tuesday that Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record) will not return to an influential committee until a federal corruption investigation involving him is completed. Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi said the Democratic Steering Committee had resolved that Jefferson, who last Saturday won a runoff election in his New Orleans district, will not be given back his spot on the Ways and Means Committee, the panel that determines tax and trade policies. At Pelosi's urging, the House last June stripped Jefferson of his committee assignment because of the...

The Congressional Black Caucus is planning to press Democratic leaders to reinstate Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) to the Ways and Means Committee, raising the thorny question of how leaders will handle the fate of Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.), who has also come under ethical scrutiny. If incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and fellow leaders decide to keep Jefferson off Ways and Means, they could open themselves to charges of following a double standard by allowing Mollohan to become chairman of an Appropriations subcommittee, as he is now poised to do. Top Democrats are dealing with questions regarding what to do...

WASHINGTON - Democrats sought to get embattled Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record) to resign his seat on the House's most prestigious committee. "In the interest of upholding the high ethical standard of the House Democratic Caucus, I am writing to request your immediate resignation from the Ways and Means Committee," wrote House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi in the one-sentence correspondence. The Louisiana Democrat was defiant. "With respect, I decline to do so," he wrote back to Pelosi."I will not give up a committee assignment that is so vital to New Orleans at this crucial time for any uncertain,...

WASHINGTON (AP) House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has asked embattled Rep. William Jeffereson to quit the Ways and Means Committee.