So you cheat at work and get caught… What can happen? You could get fired. You could lose some pay. You could be suspended.
Or you could just get a tongue lashing and have to make it right.
The House ethics committee is opting for the latter in the case of Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) after he was found guilty of 11 counts of ethics violations. The committee is expected to recommend a censure and (horrors) require Rangel to pay the taxes on that Dominican rental. Yeah. Is it just me who assumed that he had already fixed that whole rental thing? You know, on account of it being a big deal? Apparently, as of 1990 (yes, 1990), he owed $16,775 but has paid some of his back taxes. Yes, this is the man who has been charged with writing our tax policy for the last several years.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) said it best:
Failure to pay taxes for 17 years. What is that?
He gets censure. Woo. Somehow I get the feeling the average citizen would not be so lucky if he cheated on his taxes.
This is another good reason to end the income tax. Not even politicians like paying.
I owed IRS $600.00 2 years ago and they sent me countless letters in the mail even after I made arrangements to pay them. So how does this guy get away with 17 years of back taxes? I guess I need to have Rep in fornt of my name instead of MS.
Good reason for term limits.
Good reason to NOT create nor allow “professional” politicians.
Shows by his re-election that his constituents condone fraud and theft of the public treasury.
His defense: no lawyer representation (Why did his lawyers abandon him earlier?)
His defense: sloppy paperwork (Try that with the IRS) And by the way, do Congress folks get special attention from the IRS? Apparently they do. Would the IRS been so kind to John Q Public? No!
His defense: marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. and was active Civil Rights worker. I doubt Martin Luther King, Jr. would have condoned this at all. Why would someone work all their lives to give people a better life, to allow someone to tear down all their good work, for the reasons given above.
The newly elected congressmen are required to attend orientation classes before they start the People’s work. Maybe a re-fresher course should be given all the returning folks too.