Wrangling in Rangel?

Although Rangel still claims innocence, I was somewhat surprised that Charles Rangel stepped down this morning as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee as a result of the ethics violations charges. I thought he was going to pull a Spitzer or Blago, denying the charges until the bitter end when everyone knows he did it.

Of course, yesterday Pelosi was standing by him publicly. However, I suspect that just like the healthcare bill, there were some backroom deals being concocted for political survival. I am sure we will find out what they cooked up in due course. The left will never surrender, even when they are caught with their hand in the till.

Aside from the denial, what truly amazes me is the arrogance. If someone in corporate America used company funds to pay for something non-business related, it would be called embezzlement. The person would be indicted and would probably earn themselves some jail time. Somehow, they think they are above it all.

Alas, embezzlement isn't Rangel's only crime though, so why stop there? What else do we have? Hmmm, let's see.

We can add fraud to the list since he also is being investigated for his ownership of several rent-controlled apartments in New York.

We can then add tax evasion to the list since he failed to pay taxes on an offshore rental property.

Then there is also his breach of fiduciary duty and public trust for his use of office letterhead to solicit donations for a public-policy school that would bear his name.

Wow, that is quite a laundry list of crimes. To recap, so far we have embezzlement, fraud, tax evasion, and breach of fiduciary duty and public trust. These are only the crimes that are known. I wonder what else there is. Chances are that he didn't stop there. It will be interesting to see what the investigations turn up.

Overall, it is disturbing since if a regular citizen committed these crimes, or God forbid a Republican, the left would be screaming from the rafters for justice and jail time. But the leftist politicians seem to think the rules don't apply to them. Even when there is surmountable evidence, they still seem to get away with their crimes.

So the question is this. Will they be successful in wrangling in Rangel? Or will he still be riding the bull in the ring despite all the red flags, and continue kicking us in the face?