The ethics issues surrounding Charlie Rangel have been simmering for quite a while, but they came to a boil this week when Republicans pressed a resolution to remove him from the powerful chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Our own Rep. Maxine Waters has taken the lead in defending Rangel from the various charges, which include failing to disclose bank accounts, failing to disclose rental income on a Dominican villa, and failing to pay taxes on that rental income.
Waters -- who made this year's "most corrupt" list -- has issued a defense along the lines of "everybody does it":
"I want to tell you, there are many members who, if you go back over all ofThe Republican motion to remove Rangel failed, but for Democrats there remains a risk that the issue could haunt them in next year's election.
their records, over all of the years, you're going to find that there were
disclosures that were not made," Waters said on MSNBC.
Here's the video of Waters:
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Pretty sad when our elected representatives are untrustworthy. I guess the old phrase about your known by the friends you keep still applies.
Blame the other guy politics should be ignored, we should expect and observe our elected officials as standard bearers to ethical activities, not chronic offenders.
Does that surprise you? Pelosi said she supported Rangel, too. Remember the promises of an open and clean Congress?