Charlie Rangel: Corrupt Democrat Leadership

[Calabrio]

I'm not getting rent deal, Rep. Charles Rangel rages
BY RICHARD SCHAPIRO and ELIZABETH BENJAMIN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Saturday, July 12th 2008, 2:01 AM

Rep. Charles Rangel defiantly defended having four rent-stabilized apartments Friday as Republicans, critics and constituents railed against what they called a sweetheart deal.

"I don't see anything unfair about it, and I didn't even know it was a deal," said Rangel, 78, who chairs the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and is the dean of the New York congressional delegation.

"I did not negotiate or ask for a lower price, and I'm paying the legal rent."

That didn't satisfy Connie Kennedy, 52, who has been living in a rent-stabilized apartment in Rangel's luxury doorman building, Lenox Terrace, for more than 40 years.

"Somebody has to nip this in the bud," she said. "What example do you set for the community by doing that? I have no respect for Rangel."

Nellie Bailey, director of the Harlem Tenants Council, accused Rangel of "the height of hypocrisy."

She said he has failed to help residents being pushed out of rent-stabilized apartments by landlords eager to charge more while enjoying below-market rent.

Rangel - confronted by angry residents at a news conference in front of his building on W.135th St. - said he's unaware of any tenants who have been paying their rent being evicted.

The New York Times reported Rangel pays a total of $3,894 a month for three apartments on the 16th floor plus a fourth apartment six floors down that he uses as a campaign office and pays for with political funds.Rangel said two of the apartments he uses as a residence were combined before he moved in. The third 16th-floor unit, a studio, is separated by a stairwell from the other two.

Critics said Rangel's office violates rent-stabilization regulations because it is not a primary residence. They said his net worth of between $566,000 and $1.2 million makes the apartments eligible for luxury decontrol - at the landlord's discretion.

Rangel said he might consider moving his campaign office if it violates rent rules. But he vowed not to move out of his apartments.

National Republicans issued a press release teeing off on Rangel's "rent-controlled champagne wishes and caviar dreams."

Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington said it will file complaints against Rangel with the Federal Election Commission and House Ethics Committee to determine if his office is an illegal in-kind contribution from the owner, the Olnick Organization.

Rangel reacted angrily to the suggestion his apartments were a gift.

"Paying the legal rent is not a gift," he declared, calling the Times reporter who had asked the question "stupid.... If anyone can show any remote possibility that this is a gift, I'll resign tomorrow."

Political observers said the disclosure makes Rangel look bad because of the mortgage crisis and the lack of affordable housing in the city.

Still, they said it would not hurt him in the long run because he is a Harlem institution who is routinely reelected with more than 80% of the vote.

"[Rangel] is a populist, liberal character who has always been larger than life," one consultant said. "He has delivered [for constituents] and been a paragon of progressive values.

"Every New Yorker knows somebody who's sitting on a rent-stabilized apartment. It's as New York as bagels."

 

[Calabrio]

RANGEL ADMITS TO VILLA INCOME
By ISABEL VINCENT

Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel dozes on the beach at the Punta Cana Resort, where he owns and rents out a villa. He was squeezing in some vacation time before attending the Democratic convention.

Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel admitted that he earned more than $75,000 of undeclared income from a Dominican Republic villa, after The Post exposed his wrongdoing in an exclusive report Sunday.

Rangel has owned the villa at the Punta Cana Yacht Club for 20 years, yet only sporadically declared income to Congress, and never reported it on his federal or state tax returns, his lawyer said.

A Post investigation into Punta Cana found that the sun-drenched beach front "casita" 412 was regularly rented out for up to $1,100 a day, yet Rangel had said he received no income in 2006, 2007 and other years. In other years, he had declared rental income of up to $15,000. He now admits that over 20 years he made at least $75,000 in rental income that he didn't report.

The chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee at first denied that he earned any money to a Post reporter, then said the whole thing was "a private matter." But now Rangel's lawyer says disclosure forms will be refiled for a number of years. Filing a false disclosure form can result in civil penalties and a possible five-year prison sentence.

His three-bedroom, three-bath villa, which can accommodate three couples, is rented for between $500 in the low season to $1,100 a night in the busiest tourist season and is one of the resort's most popular, managers and staff say.

"You are requesting the best casita on the beach," a reservations manager told a Post reporter posing as a customer.

"We are always booked solid on that one between December 15 and April 15. It is always the first one to go," he said.

The 78-year-old Rangel's stone-covered cottage - which boasts flat-screen TVs and a panoramic ocean view - was open to hotel guests in the past two years, General Manager Carolina Jones told The Post.

"It's part of the hotel operation. It's available to customers at all times," Jones said of No. 412. Typically, the owners of the casitas earn 80 percent of any rental income, staff said.

In June 2001, Rangel sent a letter to the ethics committee saying his properties, including his home in the Dominican Republic, are "jointly owned by my wife and me." The letter added that "there was no income derived from these assets" in 2000.

 

[fossten]

Give him the Wesley Snipes treatment. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Buh-bye, scammer.

 

[Roadboss]

He's working for us !!

 

[Calabrio]

Interest on Rangel's Villa Loan was Waived

Representative Charles Rangel's Dominican Republic villa continues to be scrutinized as it's now reported the interest on his mortgage was waived. This comes a day after his lawyer also revealed the powerful Chairman of the House's Ways and Means Committee did not report $75,000 in rental income (over the past 20 years) from the villa.

Last Sunday, the NY Post raised questions about income from the villa, which Rangel allegedly doesn't consider a second home but an investment, being missing from his 2006 and 2007 returns. Lawyer Lanny Davis said Rangel would file amendments to his returns and that he did not believe Rangel would need to pay federal taxes. And apparently Rangel had no idea about all of this until the Post's story!

According to Post, Davis says income from the villa (which can be rented for up to $1,100/night) "is pooled, with 47 percent of it divided among the owners. Cash from individual villas doesn't flow directly to their owners." Davis referred to the Post cover, with an unflattering photograph of Rangel sunning and the headline "CASH COW," "It's not a cash cow, by any stretch of the imagination. It walks, talks and feels like a time share... It's certainly not generating any cash."

As for the no-interest loan, the hotel says that since rental income was below projections, it stopped charging investors interest on their loans. Labor lawyer and Rangel friend Theodore Kheel, who built the resort and encouraged Rangel to invest, said, "I know Charlie Rangel as a man of integrity. He would never do anything wrong deliberately." Davis also said, "The Rangels simply made an error in interpreting what was happening."

However, a number of ethics questions are being raised. The Citizens for Responsible Ethics calls this Rangel's "third strike," including his rent-stabilized apartment bonanza. The National Republican Congressional Committee said, "Charlie Rangel is the designated leader on tax policy in the Democrat-led Congress, but while he is authoring massive tax hikes to exact on middle-class Americans, he is apparently dodging the IRS at all costs." And Speaker of the House, Representative Nancy Pelosi, supports an investigation. Her spokesman said, “Instead of making this political, what we should do is have the ethics committee investigate. We want to look into this.”

The NY Times adds that there are a number of "inconsistencies" with Rangel's returns. For instance, the Congressman owns a 6-unit building on West 132nd Street and hasn't reported any income from it "between 1978 and 1987, and between 1993 and 2000." "Mr. Davis said that the congressman had reported the rental activity on his tax returns every year and paid all required taxes, but that he had not listed it on his financial disclosure forms in the years when the couple posted a loss."

 

[fossten]

Rangel won't lose one single vote over this in Harlem because he's "down fo' da struggle."

 

[Calabrio]

This is an older story, but I thought it was interesting:

On YOUR Dime: Congressmen Lease Luxury Cars
Little-Known But Exploited Loophole Allows Politicians To Drive, Maintain Expensive Cars, SUVs On Taxpayer Money
Rep. Charles Rangel: 'My Constituents Appreciate It'


NEW YORK (CBS) ― You may not realize it, but members of the House of Representatives can lease a car and have it paid for by you -- the taxpayer. And it's not just the car, but gas, registration, insurance … the works.

And as CBS 2 HD found out, there's no limit on how much they can spend.

Congressman Charles Rangel was recently seen getting out of his Cadillac DeVille, which he leases for $774 per month. Then there was Congressman Jose Serrano, getting out of his Buick LaCrosse, which he leases for $317 per month. And how about this one: Congressman Gregory Meeks was recently seen waiting for Congressman John Conyers to step out of Meeks' Lexus LS460, which Meeks leases for $998 per month.

All those leases are picked up by taxpayers through a little-known program available only to members of the House of Representatives.

You can probably just imagine the kind of reaction CBS 2 HD got from everyday citizens outside Meeks' Jamaica, Queens office.

"They should all drive cheaper cars, why not?" Richard Candelario said. "I mean, you know, they're making the money. I mean, we shouldn't pay for their cars."

Members of the House who choose to lease through the program have had a great deal of leeway. Congressman Anthony Weiner of Brooklyn, for example, leases a 2008 Chevy impala for $219/month. Congressman Ed Towns of Brooklyn used to lease a Lincoln for $845 per month, but switched to a 2008 mini-SUV made by Lincoln, the MKX, which costs $715 per month.

Rangel spoke to CBS 2 HD by phone about the seemingly extravagant expenses being racked up on the taxpayers' dime:

CBS 2 HD: "How would you answer those people who say, 'Well, but it's taxpayer money. Instead of $700 a month, could you find something for, say, $300 a month?'"

Rangel: "I could probably find something for ... one of those red cars and then I think my constituents would say, 'With all the money that he gets, this is the respect he shows us?'"

Earlier, Rangel released a statement, further addressing the issue.

"When I'm in New York, my car is my office. I use it to conduct Congressional business. It really pleases me that (my constituents) appreciate driving in a comfortable car, especially the senior citizens," Rangel said.

"The car isn't just a vehicle for getting around; it's an important part of doing my job and my constituents appreciate it."

Taxpayers CBS 2 HD spoke with were not buying that rationale.

"I drive a Toyota RAV and I feel that he could drive a Toyota RAV and probably lease it for $200," taxpayer Cathy Kraut said.

Of the 42 Congressmen in New Jersey and New York about a dozen participate in the leasing program.

The U.S. Senate does not permit its members to lease cars with public money.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

 

[Calabrio]

More errors for Rangel; hires new accountant
By DEVLIN BARRETT – 17 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new set of potential problems in Rep. Charles Rangel's financial papers has prompted the tax-writing lawmaker 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.

Those issues and others have led the New York Democrat to hire the expert to pore over Rangel's finances over the past 20 years, and issue a report to the House ethics committee.

Rangel's lawyer, Lanny Davis, said the hiring shows Rangel "has nothing to hide and does not believe he has done anything intentionally wrong."

The report will be given to the committee "as quickly as possible," Davis said, and the congressman will not get to see it before the committee.

The tax issue is particularly embarrassing for a lawmaker whose job is to guide new tax law. Rangel is resisting calls from Republicans that he should lose his committee post, among the most coveted on Capitol Hill.

As more questions have been raised about Rangel's records, his lawyers and accountants have uncovered new discrepancies in the personal financial disclosure documents that he files every year to Congress. Every lawmaker is required to file such paperwork disclosing major assets.

Rangel said in a statement he became aware of the issues over the weekend while working with his attorneys and staff. "While over the years I delegated to my staff the completion of my annual House financial disclosure statements, I had the ultimate responsibility. I owed my colleagues and the public adherence to a higher standard of care not only as a member of Congress but even more as the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee," he said.

Among the new discrepancies:

_Rangel's papers over the past 10 years show no reference to the sale of a home he once owned on Colorado Avenue in Washington.

_The details of a property bought in Sunny Isles, Fla., are bewildering at best. The stated value changes significantly from year to year, and even page to page, from $50,000 to $100,000 all the way up to $500,000.

_Some of the entries for investment funds fluctuate strangely, suggesting that the person either didn't have accurate information or didn't fill out the paperwork correctly.

Rangel spent the past week trying to answer questions about his ethics and his finances.

He admitted he owes the Internal Revenue Service about $5,000 in back taxes for unreported income from the rental of his vacation villa, and probably a smaller amount to state and city tax collectors.

The congressman acknowledged he made mistakes but said they were errors of omission and should not lead to the loss of his high position in Congress. (Wait, what? It is ok because you OMITTED something? So that means you didn't lie and it was not done on purpose? Huh?)
The home in the Dominican Republic has proven a major embarrassment to the 78-year-old Rangel, who conceded he never reported the rental income over a 20-year period, received a no-interest mortgage on the place for more than half that time and claims to have no idea what it is worth today.

The ethics committee is also investigating Rangel's rental of three rent-stabilized apartments in his home district of Harlem, as well as his use of official congressional stationery to try to find private donors for a college center named after the lawmaker.

 

[Calabrio]

PELOSI ASKS RANGEL TO STEP DOWN FROM COMMITTEE CHAIR
Last updated: 9:18 pm
September 15, 2008

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi privately pushed Rep. Charlie Rangel to resign his chairmanship of the influential House tax committee this evening in the wake of embarrassing revelations this his own personal tax filings were riddled with errors and omissions, a well-placed source said.

A Pelosi spokesman denied that she was encouraging Rangel to give up his gavel. "She did not ask him to do that" said Nadeam Elshami.

Rangel, who as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee helped write the federal tax code, was in late night negotiations with fellow committee members, the source said.

"You have to have one standard, you can't have one for [Republicans] and one for us," said a member of the New York congressional delegation, who supported Pelosi's decision.

The Post last month exclusively reported that Rangel failed to report rental income on his congressional disclosure form from a beachfront villa in the Dominican Republic that rents for $1,100 a night.

Soon after The Post report, Rangel admitted he owed more than $10,000 in back federal, state and city income on the property. Then today, his lawyer said a "forensic accountant" will review his past tax filings for the past 20 years.

In a private meeting this evening, Pelosi urged Rangel, who has represented Harlem for 19 terms, to step down.

"It is a body blow to him and it's a body blow to New York," the representative added.

 

[fossten]

But-but wait a minute! Foxpaws says that representatives of urban districts are all about the struggles of their constituents! So none of this can be true, right?

 

[Calabrio]

But-but wait a minute! Foxpaws says that representatives of urban districts are all about the struggles of their constituents! So none of this can be true, right?

You're SO right. Something must be wrong.
Because those urban respresentatives have accomplished so much in the past half century. In fact, I've heard because of the work of honorable guys like Rangel, poverty and crime has all but been eliminated in those areas... instead it's now isolated in rural, red state areas.

 

[fossten]

Oh man that's true. Total PWNAGE.

 

[MonsterMark]

I just got back from visiting my buddies business. Let just say his building is in a 'challenged area'. I walk outside with him and there is a guy hovering around my truck waiting to break a window. POS says he was looking for his cell phone. People in this country are f'd up.

 

[fossten]

I just got back from visiting my buddies business. Let just say his building is in a 'challenged area'. I walk outside with him and there is a guy hovering around my truck waiting to break a window. POS says he was looking for his cell phone. People in this country are f'd up.

This is why you need to CCW, Bryan...:shifty:

 

[Calabrio]

SHOCKER: Rep. Rangel Calls Palin 'Disabled'
Embattled Politician: It's Laughable That GOP VP Nominee Bases Foreign Policy On Being Able To See Russia
Republicans Infuriated; Congressman Tries To Take Words Back

Marcia Kramer NEW YORK (CBS) ― Already under fire for his tax troubles, Manhattan Congressman Charles Rangel really put his foot in his mouth on Friday.

In a CBS 2 HD exclusive interview, Rep. Rangel called Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin "disabled."

The question was simple: Why are the Democrats so afraid of Palin and her popularity?

The answer was astonishing.

"You got to be kind to the disabled," Rangel said.
That's right. The chairman of the powerful House Ways & Means Committee called Palin disabled -- even when CBS 2 HD called him on it.

CBS 2 HD: "You got to be kind to the disabled?"

Rangel: "Yes."

CBS 2 HD: "She's disabled?"

Rangel: "There's no question about it politically. It's a nightmare to think that a person's foreign policy is based on their ability to look at Russia from where they live."

Later Friday, Rangel issued a statement saying "disabled" wasn't the word he meant to use.

"Governor Palin is an obviously healthy person who in no way fits the description of disabled. I meant to say then, and I am saying now, that she entered the campaign with a disadvantage in the area of foreign policy," Rangel said in a statement.

"Any inference that my words were in any connected to her son, Trig, who was born with Down syndrome, is a real stretch -- and, I would have to think -- a way to make political points out of my poor choice of words," he added.

Republicans think Rangel's comments are insulting as well as shocking.

"Charlie Rangel's comments are clearly disgraceful," Rep. Peter King, R-Long Island, said. "This is just another liberal Democrat who can't accept an independent woman running for president."

King, who is co-chair of the McCain-Palin campaign in New York, watched Rangel's comments with CBS 2 HD. He was particularly upset because Palin's 4-month-old son, Trig, is disabled. He has Down syndrome.

"We should be sensitive to her or any woman who has a child or family member who has any affliction at all," King said. "And so to use the word disabled in the context of a female candidate for vice president who has a child who is disabled really is wrong. Charlie owes her and the entire disabled community and apology."

Advocates for the disabled are also upset.

"It makes me feel as if he's trying to put her down, trying to say she's not good for the presidency or the vice presidency," said Michael Imperiale of Disabled In Action Of Metropolitan N.Y.

"A disabled president ran this country. He was disabled. His name was Roosevelt."

A spokesman for the McCain-Palin campaign also piled on, saying that this kind of rhetoric has no place in politics.

 

[MonsterMark]

This is why you need to CCW, Bryan...:shifty:

The guy was a white dude. Bald, supremast kind of muscle shirt wearing white trash. About 40 yards away sitting on a porch step were 4 of his 'African-Americans from Africa but born in America' dudes waiting to share his bounty. Sad thing is as soon as they figure out what he has in his business it is going to get ransacked. Way to many ways to get in an old-old building. I 'inferred' a couple of 'exposed nail' traps might be required to persuade the locals from taking freebies. An old building like that is bound to have a few broken boards with nails sticking out, right?

We had a stack of around 100 cream-city bricks about 5 feet away if things had gotten interesting. I figured the bad guy had already picked out the brick he was going to use. Same for me.

 

[Calabrio]

Rangel pays IRS, complains of 'guerrilla war'
By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer
Fri Sep 19, 6:08 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Rep. Charles Rangel wrote six checks for about $10,800 in back taxes, and then penned an open letter to New Yorkers Friday, saying he has done nothing dishonorable and is the target of a GOP "guerrilla war."

Rangel, the dean of the New York congressional delegation, has faced a string of embarrassing revelations — he didn't pay taxes on rental income for a beach house in the Dominican Republic; he used three rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem, including one for a campaign office; he used his congressional stationery to drum up private donations to a college center named after him.

He ended up writing a number of checks to cover taxes due on his 2004, 2005, and 2006 returns, related to the unreported rental income, said his chief of staff, George Dalley.

The federal government tab ended up being $4,803, according to Rangel's accountants, while he wrote checks totaling $6,022 to New York State. The state figure includes a small percentage owed to the New York City authorities.

Penalties and interest were not included in those payments, Dalley said.

"If the IRS chooses to impose them, of course he'll readily pay them," said Dalley.

As he paid the taxman, Rangel also tried to assure constituents he did nothing to shame his office.

"I've never violated the public trust, so I'm not worried," Rangel wrote in a letter, e-mailed by his campaign.

A House ethics committee plans to investigate, and Republicans have called for the 19-term congressman to be removed from his powerful position as chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. After private meetings with House Democratic leaders earlier this week, Rangel was able to keep the post.

"Last July, the Republican Party declared guerrilla war against Democrats and since then has made every effort to smear me and members of my party," Rangel wrote in the letter.

"My record in the Ways and Means Committee and 38 years in Congress is unassailable, so they've pried into my private life and used insinuation and half-truths to write stories that sell papers," Rangel wrote.

 

[TheDude]

Rangel won't lose one single vote over this in Harlem because he's "down fo' da struggle."

Blanket racial insult, poor form, Fossten.

 

[Calabrio]

Blanket racial insult, poor form, Fossten.

While you may take issue with the way he said it, do you disagree with what he said?

 

[fossten]

Blanket racial insult, poor form, Fossten.

Haha. This from the guy who backs off and whines about me not having a sense of humor every time he cracks one of his stupid jokes and I call him on it.

Pot, meet kettle.

Yawn...

 

[TheDude]

While you may take issue with the way he said it, do you disagree with what he said?

Actually I do, I don't think Harlem is composed entirely of stereotypical 'ignorant ghetto blacks', nor do I think they're all blacks who'll vote for a guy simply because he's black and supposedly "down fo' da struggle."

Do you take issue with what he said and do you disagree?

 

[TheDude]

Haha. This from the guy who backs off and whines about me not having a sense of humor every time he cracks one of his stupid jokes and I call him on it.

Pot, meet kettle.

Yawn...

My "stupid jokes" towards you aren't racial, are they? Feel free to continue with your racial "jokes", I'm certainly in no position to stop you.

 

[fossten]

Actually I do, I don't think Harlem is composed entirely of black people and stereotypical 'ghetto blacks', nor do I think they're all blacks who'll vote for a guy simply because he's black and supposedly "down fo' da struggle."

Harlem is about 70% black. I never said Harlem was entirely black. I never said anything about 'ghetto,' that was your word. You must assume all blacks live in the ghetto. If you're going to start making racist accusations, you might want to do some housekeeping first.

And stop with the stupid straw man arguments, putting words in my mouth. You're trying to create the impression that I'm a racist. Go pound sand.

 

[TheDude]

Spin, dance, counter accuse/repeat. Nothing new.


And no, I'm not saying or implying you're a racist(I don't know you that well); just that your racial comment was in poor taste. Your subsequent flips, are very telling though.

Rangel won't lose one single vote over this in Harlem because he's "down fo' da struggle."

 

[fossten]

Spin, dance, counter accuse/repeat. Nothing new.


And no, I'm not saying or implying you're a racist(I don't know you that well); just that your racial comment was in poor taste. Your subsequent flips, are very telling though.

Ha. Identifying two straw men raised by you is spin? That's very weak.