With Charlie Rangel of the House Ways and Means Committee urging a new 1% tax surcharge on upper-income taxpayers – and possibly a super-surcharge on top of that for the very richest – this seems a good moment to review Rangel’s own sordid tax history.
Here’s a link to Isabel Vincent’s story in the New York Post breaking the news that Rangel earned but never reported or paid tax on $75,000 in rental income from a Dominican Republic beach villa.
The villa was bought courtesy of a no-interest loan from a Rangel campagn contributor.
Investigation of these details would reveal that Rangel never disclosed the sale of a house in Washington and neither reported nor paid taxes on his capital gain from the sale of a Florida condominium. The House committee established to investigate these matters before the 2008 election was quietly disbanded afterward.
Rangel also obtained for himself 4 rent-stabilized apartments, in violation of city law, in a building owned by one of New York City’s most politically influential developers. (Rangel merged three of the apartments into one 2,500 square foot penthouse and used a fourth for an office.)
So that’s the Rangel tax plan: Higher rates for others, so long as he pays nothing personally.
15 responses so far
1 barker13 // Jul 11, 2009 at 12:42 pm
David,
How many times have I brought up Rangel?
(Rhetorical question. The answer… “Lots.”)
Chris Dodd…?
How’bout that Congressman from Florida who lives in… er… Maryland?
(I’m talking about Robert Wexler.)
David. The inmates are running the asylum.
This is why I say in all seriousness that I pray for a military coup.
Oh… it’s not going to happen; I know that.
And, no… I don’t believe that the U.S. military is filled with only the best, brightest, and most honest or that every politician and appointed official is a crook. I’m just saying that if I could snap my fingers and make it happen… I’d trust the fate of myself, my family, and my country to the men and women who wear our nation’s uniform rather than the crooks and liars who are presently running the country.
But, hey… back to reality rather than fantasy and philosophy. Our reality is that Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Rangel, Dodd, Frank… people like this are running our country.
Oh, yes, jump on the partisanship if you must, but if you do you’re making a false argument, because I’m simply identifying the Democrats because right now it’s the Democrats who control the White House and Congress. (*SHRUG*) I’m not giving the GOP a pass. Hell… the GOP is full of crooks. (Fewer now then a few years ago because quite a few went to jail or were forced to resign in disgrace.) Sure, I’ll gladly throw out names like Duke Cunningham and Ted Stevens.
My point is that the system is clearly broken.
Yes… I suppose I’m talking sedition… treason. Well, here’s the way I look at it. America has a cancerous growth. This growth is known as partisan politics as usual. The cancer is at Stage 3. If it’s not removed soon it’ll go to Stage 4. While the “operation” I propose may kill the patient now as opposed to a slow death over decades, if it works, if all goes according to plan and the patient is allowed to recuperate and recover, our grandchildren and great grandchildren may yet have an opportunity to grow up in the sort of America that is fast being destroyed from within.
Am I suggesting “burn the village in order to save it?” (*SIGH*) Yeah… I suppose in a way I am.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not calling for a permanent military dictatorship. What I am calling for is an emergency “Hail Mary” that will “operate” on this “patient” we call America and hopefully successfully remove the tumor and set the patient back on the track towards a healthy and prosperous future.
Would a return to “normalcy,” to democracy as we now know it, inevitably lead to the same problems developing in the future that have led to the dysfunctional government we have today? Sure. Maybe. Perhaps. But future generations can cross that bridge when they come to it.
Folks… those who think I’m nuts… go back to Frum’s original post! Go back to the REALITY that a frigg’n CROOK like Charlie Rangel is one of the most powerful men in the United States and thus the world.
If THAT’S “sanity,” then count me proud to be nuts.
BILL
* WILLIAM R. BARKER of HARRIMAN, NY if the FBI or Homeland Security wants to know.
2 raygun // Jul 11, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Until the parenthetical expressions stop, I simply can’t take anything you say seriously, really.
3 barker13 // Jul 11, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Re: Raygun // Jul 11, 2009 at 12:46 pm –
In that case you’re an asshole.
(*SHRUG*)
Seriously.
As if I give a damn whether some anonymous moron who calls him or herself “raygun” has the intellectual capacity to simply ignore the style and respond to the substance.
(*SNORT*)
Yeah… “Raygun.” That’s the frigg’n HEIGHT of “seriousness.”
Listen… for what it’s worth, I hate it when writers don’t use caps when called for or violate myriad grammatical rules – punctuation, etc. But do I let it stop me from following the substance of their posts if there is substance? Certainly not.
You’re a jerk. How’s that for a simple statement with no “parenthetical expressions?” Happy?
Hey… jerk… “Raygun”… I’m simply replying in kind. No… actually… on second thought I’m going far beyond you. I’m actually replying to the “meat” of your comment.
(*SMIRK*)
Now… crawl back into your hole.
BILL
4 raygun // Jul 11, 2009 at 12:57 pm
(*douche*)
5 raygun // Jul 11, 2009 at 1:00 pm
(*annoying*) isn’t it
6 barker13 // Jul 11, 2009 at 1:20 pm
(*SHRUG*)
Not really. Perhaps I just have a fine tuned ability to focus. And perhaps you don’t.
Anyway, whatever point you THINK you’re making… all I know is that in three posts you haven’t addressed one point raised either by Frum or by myself.
(Or… would you happen to BE Frum…???)
(*SNORT*)
Anyway, “Raygun,” (*SNICKER*), if you come up with something worthy of response I’ll respond. Till then…
(*WALKING AWAY*)
BILL
7 raygun // Jul 11, 2009 at 1:45 pm
(*trust me*)
Just (*helpingtomake*) you (*barker13*) a (*better*) writer.
(*g’) day
8 ottovbvs // Jul 11, 2009 at 3:44 pm
barker13 // Jul 11, 2009 at 1:20 pm
……..More letters from Bellevue…….Clearly they’re running out of meds or straight jackets
9 necromancer // Jul 11, 2009 at 6:11 pm
It’s amazing that all these criminal actions have not been investigated by the authorities that are supposed to investigate these things. Incompetent if you ask me.
10 balconesfault // Jul 11, 2009 at 6:56 pm
“This is why I say in all seriousness that I pray for a military coup. ”
I believe you.
Rarely do I get to deliver an insult with those three simple words. But here, I feel it’s a complete indictment of your entire value system.
11 sinz54 // Jul 12, 2009 at 10:02 am
barker13 sez: “This is why I say in all seriousness that I pray for a military coup….I’m just saying that if I could snap my fingers and make it happen… I’d trust the fate of myself, my family, and my country to the men and women who wear our nation’s uniform rather than the crooks and liars who are presently running the country.”
Sounds just like the novel or movie “Seven Days in May”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33x-vZZxwGI
12 sinz54 // Jul 12, 2009 at 10:12 am
barker13: I cannot deny that I find the notion of a General Petraeus or General Schwartzkopf running this country, much more appealing than the notion of a Barack Obama running it. Heck, I’d even take T. Boone Pickens over Obama.
So, if they’re interested, let them run for office. We’ve done pretty well with our Constitution, as it is, for 230 years. Let’s continue to pick our leaders according to the machinery set forth in that document.
My personal hope is that after 4 (or especially
years of Obama, the public is going to be so disgusted with liberalism run amok that in 2016, they will vote for President someone who is even further to the right than Reagan. Someone like Shadegg or Flake or Pence or Bunning.
13 ottovbvs // Jul 12, 2009 at 10:54 am
sinz54 // Jul 12, 2009 at 10:12 am
……You Republican authoritarians love the man on the white horse don’t you…..Well I suppose that figures since you want us to be more like Singapore……And somehow I think you’re going to be disappointed in the “disgusted with liberalism” department……If there’s a universal healthcare system and much wider availability of Pell grants (just to take two examples from the liberal agenda) they’re going to be itching to overturn them are they……And they’re going to choose Pence or Bunning (this was a killer) over say Hillary Clinton who will probably be a candidate in 2016.
14 barker13 // Jul 12, 2009 at 11:54 am
Re: Necromancer // Jul 11, 2009 at 6:11 pm –
What’s “amazing” is that We, The American People, allow such a system to remain in control of our destiny.
Necromancer… this isn’t a “flaw” in the system… this IS the system!
Necromancer… Rangel IS the authority! Frank IS the authority! Dodd IS the authority!
Necromancer… do you remember when outgoing President Clinton literally SOLD pardons…? I mean, literally… he SOLD them. He sold them to benefit his “presidential museum.” He sold them to benefit his wife’s Senate campaign. The President of the United States SOLD presidential pardons.
The government of New York State is dysfunctional. Same with California. We have kleptocracies in New Jersey and Illinois. Necromancer… this IS the system…!!!
(*SLOW EXHALE*)
Re: Balconesfault // Jul 11, 2009 at 6:56 pm –
(*SMIRK*)
OK, Balc, I’ll “raise” you. Two words: Drop dead.
(*SNORT*)
Now… are you gonna stick with “Popgun” and fail to mount any intelligent response or are you gonna make the case that I’m wrong… that all is well with American democracy… that the best, brightest and most honest amongst us are diligently serving the national interest in Washington… Albany… Sacramento… Springfield… Trenton…
My GOD… wake up people! I’m not quoting afternoon soap opera storylines or old episodes of the Sopranos… I’m pointing the the current reality of government as it actually exists.
(*SIGH*)
Re: Sinz54 // Jul 12, 2009 at 10:12 am –
“I cannot deny that I find the notion of a General Petraeus or General Schwartzkopf running this country, much more appealing than the notion of a Barack Obama running it. Heck, I’d even take T. Boone Pickens over Obama.”
FINALLY! Some frigg’n honesty! Some reasonable response!
(And of all the regulars who haven’t responded and who won’t respond, I’m guessing you’re not alone, Sinz.)
“So, if they’re interested, let them run for office.”
Sinz. That’s not going to happen. It’s not going to happen any more than there’s actually gonna BE a military coup that “rescues” the country from the clutches of the corrupt. (And that’s what we’re talking… that’s where Frum started from with this thread – the CORRUPT.)
So… since it’s not gonna happen… what? We just turn on, tune out, and wait for the inevitable?
Sinz. Face it. We’re a nation of 300 million plus people. Of that what percentage has the education and the interest to take part in the “civic” process of our “civil” society?
Sinz. Neither you nor I nor anyone can wave a magic wand and suddenly transform the American People into wise, educated, involved, selfless participants in the political process. So, what happens? What happens is we get the Rangels and the Franks and the Dodds and the dealmakers (not making “deals” because compromise is part of the process, but making deals for personal gain) and so on and so forth.
Sinz. The PROCESS itself is the problem. Don’t believe me…? Heck, George Washington understood where the future would lead us the moment “factions” arose.
But, heck, Sinz… back then… back in the 18th century, the 19th century, the early 20th century… government – particularly the federal government – had vastly limited powers compared to today.
Sinz. In reality we already HAVE a form of “dictatorship.” You and I may differ on financial specifics such as the various “stimulus” packages. But neither one of us have wanted our government to bankrupt the nation, to wage war on the dollar, to rack up unfunded future liabilities like one keeps extra canned goods in the cupboard. Yet… that’s what government – under BOTH Republicans and Democrats – has done.
Hey… you don’t support the idea of a military coup. I don’t blame you. You don’t think we’re at that point. Fine. But I’m telling you… this nation requires something more than speeches about the wonders of democratic government. Our democracy is failing us. You may say “so be it” and resolve to go down with the ship. I would rather at least discuss ways of saving us all.
BILL
15 ottovbvs // Jul 12, 2009 at 12:26 pm
………You’d never think a small army of Republican congressmen and lobbyists have over the last eight years been indicted, tried and found guilty of various forms corruption several of them are still inside. It was a major factor in the 06 house and senate losses………I have no brief for Charlie Rangel who is a genial old crook but has he been indicted and found guilty of anything? Nope.
……..And since the civil war two generals of significance. both Republicans, have been president (One of those forgettable presidents in the late 19th century was too but I can’t remember which one). Grant who was a disaster and Eisenhower was fairly effective. At one point MacArthur was the general of Republican dreams but once they got close to him they realized he would have been a disaster too……..There’s a reason for this although I can understand it might be beyond the reasoning powers of some to understand why.
…….As for “we’re all doomed” I prefer :
Sail on oh ship of state,
Sail on oh union strong and great.
Humanity with all it’s fears,
With all its hopes of future years,
hangs breathless, on thy fate.
Hu
You must log in to post a comment.