Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Who Does Charlie Rangel Think He's Kidding?

And now, still more proof that politicians will persist in thinking the American public is flat-out stupid until we show them otherwise. Charlie Rangel, one of the longest-serving and most senior members of the House of Representatives, is claiming that "cultural and language barriers" kept him from finding out how much he owed in taxes on a Dominican Republic rental villa he bought as part of a speculative real-estate development many years ago.  

"Every time I thought I was getting somewhere, they'd start speaking Spanish," he told reporters at a press conference today. 

Gee, you think Charlie could have found a translator somewhere in his Harlem district? Is no one on his staff bilingual? No friends that could have helped him out if he was really interested in knowing what his income and tax liability were? 

Uh-huh, that's what I think, too. 

This episode comes on the heels of revelations that Rangel accepted four rent-stabilized apartments at far-below-market rents from a New York real-estate developer and used one of them as a campaign office, in violation of state rules requiring the units to be used as primary residences. Together, all of this suggests that Rangel has grown quite accustomed to exploiting all the, er, perks of his office. And when you're chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee — which, ironically, writes the U.S. tax code — there are an awful lot of perks. Now the question is, will his constituents throw the bum out? 

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