Quotes on RANGEL from the news:

President Barack Obama on Friday called ethics charges against Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel "very troubling" and said he hopes the longtime lawmaker can end his career with dignity. Several House Democrats went further, flat-out urging the New York congressman to resign.

"He's somebody who's at the end of his career," Obama said in an interview that aired Friday on "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric." "I'm sure that what he wants is to be able to end his career with dignity. And my hope is that it happens."

Obama, speaking on the issue for the first time, praised the 20-term Rangel for serving his constituents well but called the more than one-dozen tax and disclosure charges against him "very troubling."

It was hardly an endorsement for the veteran lawmaker, but fell well short of the calls for resignation Rangel received on the eve of the House's August recess. As House Democrats headed home, they wrestled with how to handle the matter in their districts ahead of the midterm elections.
Republicans, meanwhile, raced ahead with plans to make Rangel the face of corrupt Washington under the rule of Democrats who had vowed to clean up Congress.

quotes from a friend:
You would think these guys would be incensed and disgusted with someone that has abused the public trust. How can Obama talk about Rangel ending his career with dignity? The guy has already lost his dignity. He should end his career with everyone's contempt if the charges are true and based on what I read there is not a lot of question as to his guilt. The guy should get sentenced and the length should be long since he betrayed the public trust. This gives a clear picture of Obama's moral compass. And the other politicians are more worried about political advantage and/or the impact on their personal careers than any ethical or criminal concerns.

__________________
'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

Some how the idea of being incensed with a politician violating the public trust makes about as much sens as being incensed at a bear taking a dump in the woods.

Personally I think Wranagle should be run out of town on a rail. Problem being with that is that if we run him out we need a really big rail to cover the other 500+ reps and 100 Sen plus the folks in the WH, CIA, FBI, NSA ... well you get the point.

__________________
Sent from an agnostic abacus

2014 C250 21,XXX my new DD ** 2013 GLK 350 18,000 Wife's new DD**

- With out god, life is everything.
- God is an ever receding pocket of scientific ignorance that's getting smaller and smaller as time moves on..." Neil DeGrasse Tyson
- You can pray for me, I'll think for you.
- When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

Congressional ethics? LMAO.

Yea it's funny how politicians get so incensed about various public wrong doings, even stupid little stuff like the aut execs flying in on the corp jet.

The Toyota, Wall Street, banking etc etc they have these huge congressional hearings, that are little more than 'Free advertising', face time whatever for the politicians.

But when it's one of their own they won't talk about it.

Why haven't we had a congressional hearing on the guys in Bell, CA, how about all the other poli double dealings.

Gee why don't we have a huge hearing on some of them.

OH, pot calling the kettle black, self incrimination, time spent as they have to move from their seat to the podeum ....

__________________
KLK, MCSE

1990 500SL

I was always taught to respect my elders.
I don't have to respect too many people anymore.

I also found it odd that Republicans see the fact that Rangle is facing these charges as evidence that the Speaker is doing nothing.

As I understand it, Rangle was offered the chance to resign, and then the charges against him would be made public. His lawyers wanted none of the charges made public, but the Speaker told him there was no way that was going to happen. The deal is resign and face no trial and all the charges are made public, or don't resign and face a trial. Take it or leave it.

He decided to face a trial so he is going to get one.

My question is: Do Republicans hate the rule of law so much that they are willing to run roughshod over people and find them guilty with no evidence? To build a case like this takes time and apparently the investigators feel they have enough to get a guilty verdict and jail time if he continues to insists on a trial.

Right now Republicans should have one message: The system works. It may be slow, but it is sure, and in the end there is Justice for all. Never let it be said that we put an innocent man in jail.

But instead their message is: See! See! Look at the bad, bad man.

I think Obama is trying to let Rangle know he still has a chance to take the deal, but it is up to Rangle. Rangle likely feels he had nothing to lose now, so why not go to trial?

If he is found guilty on just one count I hope they throw the book at him. Ben Franklin said, "A public office is a public trust." If he broke that trust he knew what the result would be.

The pay 'outrage' in Bell, CA, really started 17 years ago when the City Manager was hired. Whom ever it was that set up his contract is at fault.

His contract called for a 12% raise every year he was there. There was no upper limit or salary range.

He hired on at about $35,000 a year. The salary range on this job should have been something like a min of $30,000 and a max of $65,000 or so. Without a salary max the sky was truly the limit.

I knew a guy that was getting, since his uncle was a VP at the company, a 14% raise each year. He really did little beyond showing up. It took him about 6 years to max out his salary range and one year he got a raise of .002% because that was as high as he could go.

We told him the trouble was not that he was getting paid less that year than he was worth but it was because he had been getting paid more than he was worth for the last 6 years.

Sorry Pelosi said she would drain the swamp, this Rangel thing has been going on for 2+ years. At least since it was made public and it's still dragging on.

Remember many of the charges are tax related, he can't claim ignorance of the law, he chairs the committee that writes them.

What POs me is if you or I had done half what he did, we'd have been fined, our property taken away and we'd be in a real prison somewhere

Even if they convict him, he'll end up in a country club prison at worst. Probably pay his lawyers from his campaign warchest, be out in 3 months and collect his pension.

Oh and most private companies would have canned his ass first, most I worked for if I was caught accepting free travel from vendors would have fired me first asked questions later.
He'll collect his paycheck to the end, then his pension even if in jail.

__________________
KLK, MCSE

1990 500SL

I was always taught to respect my elders.
I don't have to respect too many people anymore.

With Maxine Waters on the hotseat too, there are two members of the black caucus in the spotlight at the same time. Not a great time for the democrats...

They're all crooks, black or white, R or D, makes no difference.

__________________
2002 Ford ZX2
2 x 2013 Honda Civics

Two men were recently let out of prison in Texas. Both had served about 20 years each for crimes they have been proven not to commit, but at the time there was a great need for someone to be punished. So they were.

Both were also from Houston, Texas, which is in Harris County, Texas.

Tax cases are VERY hard to prove, even one like Rangle's. The IRS will take years on a big case and do all they can to collect what is due before they start criminal proceedings. I have had dealings with the IRS enough to know that they are not interested in putting people in jail, and if you can argue your numbers from a standpoint that shows you thought you were right they will work with you in order to show you your errors. This can go on for years, by the way, with no criminal charges ever being bought.

This case could easily be blown if the evidence is not overwhelming. Any trial involving a politician will look like a witch hunt so the law must go the extra mile to prove not only the charges but to prove to the public that politics are not involved.

One sure way to tell the trial is over nothing but politics is if one side or the other is in a rush to put someone away.

The Speaker also announced that Maxine Waters, another Dem, will face a trial soon and the charges are still somewhat obscure. She was also offered a deal and said she wanted a trial. More on this is likely to come out very soon, but from what I understand these charges pale against what Rangle is accused of.

Still, pale or not, she is accused of breaking the law and charges are going to be bought as they should be.

If the law gets into a big hurry and people are found guilty for little or no reason the one who ends up looking stupid is the group that pushed for a quick conviction.

Just ask the Harris County District Attorneys office about this.

Jail!?

Time for that Reality Check:

Rangel is facing a political investigation, political trial; the worst political punishment the fellow politicians who are judging him can hand down is his expulsion from the house.

Nothing Rangel can or would do with regard to this political matter would impact his actions as a criminal matter of which there is no evidence one exists. If Rangel imagined there was any chance of criminal liability he would have been claiming the 5th from the beginning!

Charlie just wants all his supporters to "keep the faith, baby" ala Adam Clayton Powell, his predecessor!

He has not claimed anything yet. The trial has not yet begun.

After this trial nothing will keep a Federal criminal trial from taking place.

I think Maxine Waters is charged with an ethics violation and she disputes this. Sometimes ethics can be a gray area where one person says you violated the law and you say you did not. Sarah Palin is sort of an expert on this since she has been charged with so many ethics violations.

Some of Rangle's ethics violations might rise to the level of a crime. Time will tell.

It looks as if he is trying to politic his way out of this. But it will make it impossible for a jury to be picked for a criminal trial if the publicity around it does not die down. At least I would bet that is what he is hoping. Perhaps he is forgetting that this did not work for OJ.

I also hope that if there is evidence of criminal wrongdoing they use all that they have in any criminal trial. Perhaps it would encourage others in Congress to think twice before taking that extra little 'perk'.

I agree, the guy should be fed to the dogs, especially after so many years of service (you think he would have learned, right?). As far as Obama's quotes, I see it as PR talk for him nicely telling someone of his own party to GTFO. Clear picture of Obama's moral compass? I'd say that is a stretch, but agree that he could have come down a bit harder on Rangel. "He is a man at the end of his career" = no hope for Rangel.

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

The sad part is that the worthless media will probably go along with it so that they can appear to be fair and balanced.

The part I don't get is why an ethics investigation against one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress is inconsistent with Speaker Pelosi's vow to clean up Congress.

He should try to end his career with some sense of dignity. He is a decorated war veteran who served his constituents well. He lost his way over the years, corrupted by power, perhaps, but it's not as if he hasn't served his country. It's a real shame that is career has turned out this way.

Didn't both Rangel and Waters both support Hillary in the primary?

__________________
1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

If every democrat who supported Hillary at one point were "gotten rid of" there would be a whole lot missing.

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.