"All Pigs Are Equal ...

But some Pigs are more equal than others" --- George Orwell

More errors for Rangel; hires new accountant

By DEVLIN BARRETT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new set of potential problems in Rep. Charles Rangel's financial papers has prompted the tax-writing lawmaker to hire a forensic accounting expert to try to unravel the mess.

Rangel, chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, is already the subject of ethics committee investigations on several fronts, including unreported income and unpaid taxes on his beach house in the Dominican Republic.

Those issues and others have led the New York Democrat to hire the expert to pore over Rangel's finances over the past 20 years, and issue a report to the House ethics committee.

Rangel's lawyer, Lanny Davis, said the hiring shows Rangel "has nothing to hide and does not believe he has done anything intentionally wrong."

The report will be given to the committee "as quickly as possible," Davis said, and the congressman will not get to see it before the committee.

The tax issue is particularly embarrassing for a lawmaker whose job is to guide new tax law. Rangel is resisting calls from Republicans that he should lose his committee post, among the most coveted on Capitol Hill.

As more questions have been raised about Rangel's records, his lawyers and accountants have uncovered new discrepancies in the personal financial disclosure documents that he files every year to Congress. Every lawmaker is required to file such paperwork disclosing major assets.

Rangel said in a statement he became aware of the issues over the weekend while working with his attorneys and staff. "While over the years I delegated to my staff the completion of my annual House financial disclosure statements, I had the ultimate responsibility. I owed my colleagues and the public adherence to a higher standard of care not only as a member of Congress but even more as the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee," he said.

Among the new discrepancies:

_Rangel's papers over the past 10 years show no reference to the sale of a home he once owned on Colorado Avenue in Washington.

_The details of a property bought in Sunny Isles, Fla., are bewildering at best. The stated value changes significantly from year to year, and even page to page, from $50,000 to $100,000 all the way up to $500,000.

_Some of the entries for investment funds fluctuate strangely, suggesting that the person either didn't have accurate information or didn't fill out the paperwork correctly.

Rangel spent the past week trying to answer questions about his ethics and his finances.

He admitted he owes the Internal Revenue Service about $5,000 in back taxes for unreported income from the rental of his vacation villa, and probably a smaller amount to state and city tax collectors.

The congressman acknowledged he made mistakes but said they were errors of omission and should not lead to the loss of his high position in Congress.

The home in the Dominican Republic has proven a major embarrassment to the 78-year-old Rangel, who conceded he never reported the rental income over a 20-year period, received a no-interest mortgage on the place for more than half that time and claims to have no idea what it is worth today.

The ethics committee is also investigating Rangel's rental of three rent-stabilized apartments in his home district of Harlem, as well as his use of official congressional stationery to try to find private donors for a college center named after the lawmaker.

And the fattest pigs slop in the sty together:


More Errors For Rep. Rangel; Hires New Account

Though Many Think Harlem Congressman's High-Powered Job Is Safe, House Speaker Pelosi Has Final Say

Reporting
Pablo Guzman


NEW YORK (CBS) ― Congressman Charles Rangel is under fire once again over questions about his personal finances.

On Monday, the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee was scheduled to meet privately with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, trying to deal with the ethics questions that just won't go away.

It has gotten to this for Rangel. Although he is one of the most powerful men in Washington, here in his own district -- to avoid yet another round of embarrassing questions from reporters -- Rangel had to be brought in through a back door, surrounded by children, no less. He did acknowledge that he was going to be asked about Speaker Pelosi, but said he did not want to take away from what was supposed to be the children's day.

"The feeling was it had to do with Speaker Pelosi, but I don't want to detract from this at all," Rangel said.

The "Speaker Pelosi" reference is because the lead editorial in Monday's New York Times calls for Pelosi to ask Rangel to temporarily step aside as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, or else be removed permanently.

It's because Rangel, the head of the committee that writes the tax code and oversees the budget, now admits his own tax records are in such disarray, he's had to bring in a forensic accountant to find out just what he owes on items like unreported income on the building he and his wife once owned, or the possible ethical lapses in perhaps getting a favor to combine three condos into one, below-market apartment. Or explaining just how another Dominican condo was financed.

In fact, Rangel left in a rush Monday to meet with Pelosi in Washington. His future is in the balance, but even people in his district critical of what they call his sloppy record-keeping do not want him removed as the tax committee chair.

"Well, I think it's a little premature. I think they need to finish the investigation first," said Dave Hill of Harlem.

Fellow Harlem resident Mir Lande said most of the people in this community will stand by Rep. Rangel.

"I think that people make mistakes, and politicians make mistakes like everyone else," Lande said.

So it seems that while calls mount for Rep. Rangel to step aside as Ways and Means chairman, many of his constituents are closing ranks behind him -- in support.

While republicans are demanding Pelosi remove Rangel, the Democrats are caught between getting rid of a problem that could come up in debates versus not wanting to alienate black voters who may think removing Rangel would be overkill.

So is the IRS going to rake him over the coals like they do to Joe Citizen?

This is only the tip of the iceberg.

Vi