Rangel's Bungling

Representative Charles Rangel is in trouble. The long time Congressman from New York is facing 13 counts of wrong doing for his financial dealings and fiscal improprieties. He says he didn't do it. He also says he did do it but he didn't mean to: he wasn't paying enough attention. He even says he did it but that he is being singled out unfairly because many in Congress do what he is accused of doing. He is hoping one of those excuses will work.

Rangel's defense is common enough: there is nothing novel to it. It would be a rare thing for a member of Congress to admit to wrong doing before it was absolutely impossible to deny it. Even then, many would persist in their denial. Of all the accusations against Rangel, and there are a few, the one that is the most curious is the charge that he was hiding assets and failing to pay taxes. What makes this accusation so interesting is that Rangel is the former chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. If anyone in the nation should be willing to pay his taxes, it should be the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. If anyone should be familiar with tax rules and regulations, it should be the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. If he is not knowledgeable about tax laws and regulations, who is? If he is not willing to pay his taxes in full, who should? If Rangel made errors on his taxes, he is either incompetent or corrupt. For someone in Rangel's position, inattentive is the same thing as incompetent.

A man in Rangel's position has no reason to avoid paying his taxes. A man in Rangel's position should not even hire an accountant: he should just write a check when the bill is presented. If Rangel believes that the tax code is overly burdensome or unfair, he should work to change it. He should not try to circumvent it. He did chair the committee that writes tax code after all. Like many in Congress, Rangle is willing to pass laws he has no intention of living under, write rules he has no intention of following, and enact programs he will never rely upon.

Congress writes laws. That is what makes it so easy for them. That is what makes it so difficult for us. When members of Congress ignore the very laws they have written, there can be no good reason for it. There can be bad reasons. Rangel clearly cannot tell the difference.

Rangel has been in Congress for 39 years. He has worked to pass many laws. Evidently, Rangel believes some of those laws do not pertain to him. To seek to avoid laws that one has had a hand in enacting is a shameful thing. It is unfortunate that there is so little shame in Washington anymore. In the absence of shame, we will have to make do with ethics committees.