Catastrophe - Dick Morris [89]
It’s that simple.
RANGEL AND THE OIL COMPANY TAX BREAK
But the AIG solicitation isn’t the only source of concern over Charlie Rangel’s questionable mix of tax policies and personal solicitations.
It seems that Rangel had personally sought another contribution to his new school. This time he met with Eugene M. Isenberg, the chief executive officer of Nabors Industries, a petroleum exploration company that had moved its drilling operations offshore after 9/11 to avoid federal taxes. Although Rangel had been publicly critical of the company in 2004, by the time Isenberg pledged $1 million for his school in 2007, Rangel was firmly in support of the valuable tax loophole that Isenberg was seeking to keep.326
It’s not just that Rangel changed his mind. The circumstances and context of his meetings with Isenberg were appalling. On the very morning that the Ways and Means Committee would consider the bill that would benefit Nabors, Rangel met with Isenberg to discuss his contribution to the school. After the discussion was finished, the pair moved across the room to meet with Nabors’s lobbyist. It was then that Rangel made a commitment to oppose the bill that had passed the Senate that would eliminate the loophole. Several days later, a check for $100,000 arrived at the City University.
That kind of conduct, suggestive of a quid pro quo, would seem to cross the kind of basic ethical line that most people would recognize. But Charlie Rangel seems to have vaulted way over that line time after time. Here are some of the violations he has been accused of:
New York State’s rent stabilization law controls the rent landlords can charge for primary residences in certain buildings. To be eligible for a stabilized rent, the apartment must be your primary residence.
But as the New York Times disclosed, Charlie Rangel has four of them, all in the same building. He gets these 2500 square feet of Manhattan apartment at half price.
One of his four rent-stabilized apartments was used as a district office, which he paid for with taxpayer money. His landlord, eager to curry favor with him, hasn’t challenged his reduced rent.
And for several years Rangel had a fifth primary residence. He got a homestead exemption on his property taxes for a house in Washington, saying that this too was his primary residence and that he paid taxes there—neither of which is true.
Asked about these shenanigans, Rangel retorted angrily that where he lived was nobody’s business.327
Rangel bought a vacation villa in the Dominican Republic and forgot to report $75,000 in rental income from the property on his taxes. Now, remember, as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, this is the man who writes the nation’s tax laws. How could he forget such a thing?
Unbelievably, he has blamed his failure to report these taxes, at least in part, on language problems, because the residents of the Dominican Republic speak Spanish. Then again, so does half of Rangel’s district. If anyone could have found a translator, presumably it was Charlie Rangel.
All of these issues are now before the House Ethics Committee for investigation. But given the record of that august body, we’re none too hopeful. In July 2008, Speaker Pelosi pledged that the matters would be dealt with quickly. It’s April 2009 as we write this—and still nothing has happened.
Like Chris Dodd, Charlie Rangel has gotten exceptional housing at a cut rate. And, like Dodd, he has depended on AIG and the big banks and investment companies to fund his campaigns while masquerading as a populist attacking them. Both of their futures are before their respective Ethics Committees. But, more than that, it will be up to the voters to determine their fates.
ACTION AGENDA
If you have a problem with Rangel’s conduct, let Nancy Pelosi know about it and demand that he be removed