On Demand
Rangel's Ethics
Friday, July 18, 2008
Christopher Lee, national reporter for the Washington Post updates us on Congressman Charles Rangel's recent tiffs with the press.
Transcript of Rangel's Recent Press Conference (Christopher Lee is "QUESTION")
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Comments
"Rangel's Ethics"? Isn't that an oxymoron?
Rangle is just a hack politician whose time has gone...
And not to worry- he will soon be gone too...
Rangel's ethics = NONE.
The guy is a huge fraud and hopefully this is his down fall.
The fatter they are the harder they fall.
@3--lol. michael, don't hold back! :-)
mr lee
loved those vampire movies u did in the 1970's
What an ego, to name the building after himself. Charlie Rangel should have gone away a long time ago. As I've said here before, he has always reminded me of a snake oil salesman.
his voters will be just OK with this.
he's no vito fossella by the way
he's become just as bad as the corrupt guy he railed against at the beginning of his career and who's job he's currently still has. how ironic.
it should be a 100% non-partisan decision when constituents vote on getting rid of these types of politicians. the problem is these guys, especially in ny always get voted back in. they take it for granted that people will vote down the line and so they do little for their community and quickly become ethically challenged -- we see this from the city council level right up the chain.
That's him from "Vampire Lovers". yes, you were awesome and great in "The Wicker Man".
FINALLY! The media is doing its job going after frauds like Charlie "Wrangle". Next, look into Gov. Patterson's sweetheart housing deal in Lenox Terrace.
Shame on Patterson. Never kiss and tell.
So true Mary D. you hit the nail on the head. And he WILL get voted back into office.
Rangel probably didn't have good timing, as long as he is not taking the money for him, what is the problem with raising the money for the library.
Rangel is as slick & slippery as an eel. He is the personification of a cynical politician, whose primary goal is to get himself elected, not true public service.
I remember years ago, seeing Rangel and a black economics professor on a PBS talk show discussing the pros and cons of minimum wage laws, and Rangel, unable to counter the professor's arguments rationally or with data, simply attacked the professor's personally, questioning his motivation and his "black" credentials.
Through the years, he has lived up to that low-road approach almost every time I've seen him.
Rangel bobbs and weaves, but never answers questions forthrightly; he prefers to attack the questioner. And how dare anyone question HIS integrity or motivations!
Cynical.
I'm not usually one for letting politicians off the hook but how much of a big deal is this? We all know unfortunately that Washington has a revolving door between government, lobbyists and businessmen. Given that, isn't this all a storm in a teacup? Its not like he was taking kickbacks or pocketing money from corporate donors. Politicians spend half their time raising money for re-election as it is and really this business about what stationery he used, who cares?
7--hjs, you're right. I think his voters won't even blink at this.
Curious though, would you care to elaborate on the vito reference? I know CR hasn't been pulled for a DWI or set up a second family down in DC (as far as I know), but 4 rent-stab. apts, currying $$ on "company time", etc.? Pretty slimy...
Why is there a comments page when Brian's away, no one reads the comments!
i like what the caller just said
This is how monies are raised for cultural and educational institutions all over the country from the private sector!
Too bad Rangel disclosures came a day after petition deadline for the Sept. primary. A month earlier, someone could have used it to mount a campaign against him. Rangel counting his blessings.
She did read one comment from Jon P, but it more than 15 mins ago.
re Rangel didn't even have the modesty to name it after someone worthy!
aren't there other better targets? this makes your name more recognizable. buttering your own bread? nothing here seems dreadful.
Yeah, that's crazy. What kind of politician would want a library named after himself at a school? Oh wait, every single one that can. God forbid that City College, a CUNY, should see a little love from his congressman. People should understand what a good congressman does - bring money to their constituents. Its up to local pols to provide the nuts and bolts of everyday city life, the congressman is supposed to grease the skids to bring money so that can happen. In that regard, Rangel is one of the best congressman in the country. He is responsible for creating Empowerment Zones which bring federal aid to distressed neighborhoods. The man is a fundraising machine. Give credit where credit is due
michael - bold statements.
/ethics = NONE/
/huge fraud/
?
btw, if anybody's keeping track, and you may or may not be, so far today i have supported the idea of giving 2 days of war effort to support:
- a national $340 million program for organic farming plus
- a NYC delivery program for same for 65,000 for 20 years -- i am still flummoxed by this one and doubting my math.
- $10 billion dollars into vaccine research.
which means, if those ideas came into fruition, i would not be able to pay for 1 month 2 days of war effort.
---
hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work i go...
c)
20--coincidence? doubtful
21--well said!
I do not think either his apt. or his use of Congressional stationary on behalf of CCNY/CUNY is not a real problem. Rather, these are CHOICES he should not have made. He is not my favorite representative, but I expect us to look into real issues faces his constituents.
WBAI noted that Rangel's "double apartment," which the MCM (mainstream corporate media) counts as two apartments, was already joined into one apartment when he initially rented there. He was then about to rent a adjoining studio apartment, again at the rent stabilized rate.
Now, he has agreed there is a problem with using any of the apartments for an office, so he is giving that up.
The WaPo reporter is now suggesting that a NYC resident who has a rent stabilized apartment, something possible in NY law (d'uh!), is somehow getting a gift from the landlord? Huh?
The person on WBAI suggested this attack on Rangel is a means of attacking rent control and rent stabilization. The argument is that a well-to-do person has a rent stabilized apartment; therefore, that is doing something wrong; and, by extension, doing away with rent stabilization can avoid this "problem."
Now, by that argument, there should be a sliding scale for the price of milk, which in NY is regulated, so that people pay according to their wealth. Right?
Beward the MCM!
BTW, WaPo loves to find "suggestions" of wrondoing by Dems (Edwards' house sale, Dodd? I need to check who else it was--Obama?) concerning where they live.
this whole thing so blown out of proportion! you got guys on wall street making 3billion dollars in one year, and these reporters are upset because charlie rangel has a rent subsidiexd place. note that he is NOT paying a preferential rent, as I am, and as many other New Yorkers are. thus this is NOT a gift. he has already given up the campaign office- let it go! as for the other thing, is there any evidence of a quid pro quo?
the whole goddamn is rotten, and this story is about something very minor....how aboit going after W. and his crowd who helped all their friends with no bid contracts in the US and elsewhere. Bush and his pals have shredded the constitution and tried to destroy the country- and these suck ass reporters are worried about Charlie Rangel paying the LEGAL rent!!!
where were you losers when Bush was taking the country into Iraq?? kissing his ass with questions like "how does this affect your faith mr. President"?? give me a break!!
David!
is it true that his primary home was 3 apartments next to each other used as 1 which was 1 apartment when he move into them?
raise money for a school?
after seeing what DC (gop congress & bush's cronies) has done over the last 8 years i'm having trouble getting very upset over this. but maybe i'm mistaken.
Why does everyone compare the Congressman's rent to market rate? It is not a Market rate apartment. It is rent stabilized. Rent Stabilization has nothing to do with the tenant's income and is available to anyone who can afford it. If you are going to compare his rent compare it fairly to someone that has lived in the same apartment for nearly a decade and the landlord properly followed the rent guidelines board rent increases.
I can see that some people would be sour because he can obviously afford to pay more for rent but there is no ethical violation here.
Even if Rangel is that bad, that does not make this issue a problem.
The guest suggested that Rangel should have done this "On his own time." I ask, when is that? Congressmen are not paid by the hour. I think that that shows the lack of impartiality and how much he is looking for scandal, as opposed to simply investigating fairly. Even if the academic center is named after Rangel, how does he really benefit?
The housing story is a different issue. He clearly benefits greatly from being able to use three rent stabilized units as his one large apartment. The law requires that stabilized housing be used as the renter's primary residence. None of the three alone served as his primary residence, unless one might point to the one with his bedroom.
That his the problem. That is where he is benefiting himself and helping no one. That is where he is hurting his constituents -- two families of which ought to have those extra units in which to live.
One could make the opposite argument, that BECAUSE Rangel gets re-elected without any opposition is ALL the more reason to scrutinize him....
i don't understand how people overlook obvious ethical lapses. just look at some of the posts here. unbelievable. i just have to believe Rangel has his staff calling in. Just look at his apartment issue, he keeps separate leases on them so they stay below the 2k cutoff and then acts self righteous about it... yet people look the other way, we wouldn't want to queation why one of the most litigious real estate groups would look the other way, would we? all politicians, republican, democrat, local, national need a press on them 24/7 keeping them honest. I only wish some of the other more critical comments here made it on the air. I find it hard to swallow that more calls were from supporters.
So Rangel get's a pass cause he'z from the hood!!!
give me a frequent break
you Demz is phony --- just cuz he's been here forever and doesn't let younger guy take his seat don't mean he shouldn be investigated
if he wuz a Republican you'd be singin a dfferent tune
no doubt
What Rangel's intentions are is not the point.
If he is trying to do something for "education in Harlem" (as opposed to self-glorifying himself through the erection of some edifice named after him), then that's great. But procedures are in place for a reason - to control against the malfeasance of others with less "honorable" intentions...Rangel, given his 38-YEAR LOW VOTER TURNOUT REIGN, knows this. He's being coy and it's unacceptable.
Why is it that WNYC and NPR have the time and resources to pursue petty crap like this while John McSame sams the campaign finance system, flip flops on tax cuts, immigration and his policy in AFganistan (to mention only three of the sixty odd flip flops that can be readily documented)??? The WAPO has shown it colors regularly as an apologist rag for the idiots who run this country. In the unlikely event you do choose to spend any time on Republican misdeeds, you find it necessary to find some obsure transgression that a Democrat has done to show how balanced you are. This drivel is a waste of time. YOu have a lot of gall seeking membership dollars when this is the kind of crap they are spent on. Shame on you. Next time you need some $$ why not ask Laura Walker to take a pay cut?????
The guy is a Congressman - not the President. What papers of any possible historical significance could there possibly be? What an ego......
yes paul, i noticed and i agree with you.
i guess i should be as verbal
(no "caps" today, it' friday and i don't feel like)
k zach, i will give him credit, he IS a fundraising machine!
the truth
"Rangel didn't even have the modesty to name it after someone worthy!"
who does that? which planet are u from?
no truth on this one
re: the last caller...so long as the "dirt" isn't contrived, I say check all pols for it. Yes, there's a lot of bigger dirt on Wall St and other private sectors, but the pols are supposed to be accountable to the people.
That said, the Bush-Cheney regime is leaving a slime trail that Jabba the Hutt never imagined possible. It'll take decades to clean up that mess.
Chistopher Lee of the Washington Post? How about Peter Cushing of the New York Times?
This is part of the MCM (and not all reporters play this game, but enough do, especially those who want to get ahead) of protecting this Republicans by coming up with "possible" scandals concerning Dems. As I mentioned above, the WaPo seems to specialize in front page stories about Dems' real estate, with lots of suggestions of possible wrongdoing, but few facts of any such things. Edwards got hit about his house sale.
Of course it's hypocritical to give Charlie Rangel a pass because he's black or "beloved" by some of his constituents...
And all the posters here who think this is "petty crap" would be fuming ballistic if this was a Republican...
Finally, #34 "you got guys on wall street making 3billion dollars in one year" -- one guy made that, and he did so by betting against subprime,,,
last I heard, shorting stocks and making money is not illegal.
Julie,
the congressman has been there for over 30 years. A president can only serve 8 years. That's a lot of paper
Why are people so loyal to Rangel?
Their thought process seems to be like: "It's okay if Rangel engages in shady fundraising practices as long as he brings home the bacon for us."
Never mind that having a corrupt representative, especially one in a such an influential position as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee will harm EVERYONE in the country in the long run. I can't understand how people can be so provincial and so short-sighted. Corruption makes a joke out of the idea that we live in a "democracy".
The rent stabilized law does require that the apartment be used as a primary residence. There is no prohibition that the apartments be combined if it is done with the landlords permission and according to code. And as long as the landlord does not combine them himself then the apartments remain rent stabilized.
In addition, Congressman Rangel did not combine the apartments himself; the previous tenant did. Thus, the three combined apartments make one primary residence for the Congressman.
$1 million for the gentleman's center?
okay, i suport the idea of giving 3 hours of war effort =
$42.6 million dollars for his center.
---
so now i support the *idea* of switching 32 days and 3 hours to:
- a $341 million national program for organic farming.
- a delivery program for same to 65,000 to poor people in NYC for 20 years
- $10 billion dollars for vaccine research
and
- $42 milion dollars for some-kind of center in harlem which a nice guy is trying to set up buy sending begging letters to among others, donald trump.
----
is there somebody laughing in the control room? i thought i could hear laughter? perhaps only me.
---
for me, personally, i would like to be a dolphin, but if i had to choose between a thresher and a white shark, i'd definitely choose the thresher.
---
two pauls called in this morning so far. not my bag, i must say. love to type.
congratulations on your new move by the way. i certainly respect your past but look forward to the new programming.
bye, duty calls...
David! 43
ur right as i said those who vote for him won't care.
it's about the power of incumbency
summer hours, gang! Have a great weekend, all!
Jamal
no i saw no reason for vito fossella to leave either, but glad he just did.
It doesn't matter if a politician is a Democrat or a Republican. If they behave unethically, they should be investigated. To demand anything less and side with a politician because of their party is blatant hypocrisy and is harmful to everyone in the end.
just for the record. I am not a dem or rep. I have my own mind and think for myself. I listen and read all news and information out there.
This is a petty argument. Either partry wants us to focus on petty issues so we don't see their slight of hand tricks. There are more important issues out there.
Like THE ECONOMY. STUPID!!
and Energy
Corruption is a real issue. Unless you think it's okay for government officials to hand out corporate welfare and slipshod regulation in the name of fixing the economy and engage in pork projects like ethanol instead developing real energy alternatives.
crook 54
is that what going on here?
I don't believe that is what is going on here.
But, Crook 54 does point out some of the slight of hand tricks.
Of which this is discussion is not one.
This type of thing is not surprising. Rangel has not represented nor cared about his constituents only about himself and his cronies who sold us out long ago. While we are losing our homes, he is living in luxury and paying less in one year than the average renter is paying in four months. How dare he solicit money for his name when he has never ask for anything that will benefit the people that he suppose to represent. I hope this will wake people up in his Congressional district so that they will get out to vote him out of office. Anyone who runs against him could not be as bad as he is.
You guys are full of hot air. Rangel has done a lot for Harlem over the past 30+ years. I've voted for him in the past and will continue to do so. Smells like a witch hunt to me...
Richie
Harlem
I am pointing out the problems that corruption leads to. Corruption means bad government, which leads to bad policies which benefit a few fatcats and screw everyone else. This should be obvious.
I am not a Democrat or Republican. But if are a Democrat and angry about the Jack Abramoff scandal, you should judge Rangel just as strongly. It really boggles my mind how some of you are willing to overlook Rangel's shady dealings because of the perception that he has "done a lot" for his district or his constituents or whatever. It's not a good thing to have a Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee if he's corrupt. Corruption should be rooted out and investigated wherever it is, regardless of party affiliation. To think otherwise is hypocrisy or willful ignorance. Political corruption screws everyone in the end and it completely boggles my mind how people can overlook this. Rangel clearly reeks of corruption to anyone willing to open their eyes.
One more thing. Assuming that Rangel has acted unethically, or is guilty of political corruption, are there people here who are seriously willing to give Rangel a pass because of the district he's from, his party, his race or some other factor?
The comments here defending Rangel are amazing. Obviously there are plenty of Rangel fans who are just fine with an elected official stealing from their pockets. Why would a private company (or landlord) give money when a powerful legislator asks? Because they just love learning? Because they think Rangel deserves thousands of dollars off his rent? How about, because they know that for every dollar they give him or his causes, they're going to gain thousands thanks to tax, regulatory, or oversight benefits he can offer. That's your money folks. Apparently you don't mind. And if you don't mind giving away your money, let me give you my PayPal account...
If Rangel actually had to give a hoot about his voters, he would have immediately have asked for the center not to be named after him. As he hasn't done that, it's pretty clear that he's more interested in getting his name on some building before he dies than he is on promoting public service for minority people.
Oh, and for the posters who make fun of the journalist's name... yeah.
This thread is closed.
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