House GOP Wants Embattled Rangel Off Tax Panel

By DEVLIN BARRETT – 1 hour ago

NEW YORK (AP) — House Republican leaders demanded Tuesday that embattled Rep. Charles Rangel be removed from his post as chairman of a tax-writing committee while an ethics panel reviews his personal finances.

Rangel, D-N.Y., has been besieged for months by reports raising questions about his finances and living arrangements. In his home district of Harlem, he had four rent-regulated apartments in the same building, including one that was used for campaign work.

That arrangement was already under investigation by the House ethics committee last week when new revelations surfaced that he had an unusual financial deal for his beach vacation home in the Dominican Republic.

Rangel's lawyer acknowledged he had not reported some $75,000 in rental income on the property over two decades, and that for more than a decade he paid no interest on his mortgage for the property. His lawyer insists that any tax mistakes were minor and accidental.

Republicans who had already sought to censure the congressman now want him stripped of his sway over the House Ways and Means Committee, which helps write the nation's tax laws.

"Given Chairman Rangel's continuing ethical lapses, he cannot effectively carry out his duties as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee," top House Republicans wrote House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday.

"You, as the speaker of the House, must insist that Rep. Rangel step down from his Ways and Means chairmanship pending an investigation of his ethical lapses," said the letter signed by Minority Leader John Boehner and his top deputies, and laced with criticism of the Democratic-led Congress.


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:grr:

AP: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5glQov1wR6wtud4Ifn4-Kh9bMOcFwD933DGG00

HAHAHAHAHA!

then they can talk about ethical lapses.

That's 4,000 a year???

When the GOP has stolen billions?

Give me a break. :eyes: