Has he no shame?Charlie?
Of course not.
What were you thinking?
He's Charlie Rangel, head of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee -- who can't be bothered to tend to his own tax returns, but now intends to punish ordinary folks for making arguably minor mistakes on their forms. The Post's Charles Hurt reported yesterday that Rangel's committee seeks to reduce legal defenses and increase fines and penalties on taxpayers undergoing IRS scrutiny for what they assert are innocent errors.
The bigger the government the smaller the citizen, until we're so miniscule we can't be seen with the naked eye. Or more importantly, heard with the naked ear.
Among other things, Rangel's bill would even prohibit the IRS from forgiving taxpayers who erred in good faith -- though that would be a very generous interpretation of his own tax troubles. In just the last year, Rangel has been forced to file late-disclosure reports involving millions from land transfers and unreported business deals. Such transgressions should preclude Rangel from even voting on tax legislation, let alone writing any.
But they won't. And the provisions won't apply to him.
Indeed, we wouldn't be all that surprised in the least if there were a Charlie Rangel exclusion clause written into the IRS-crackdown bill discovered by Hurt.
Me neither.
Just kidding.
I'm not.
But it's no joke.
Even though many of us would be laughing if it didn't hurt.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi needs to remove Rangel from his Ways & Means chairmanship.
Never happen. Birds of a feather.
He has long since lost the credibility necessary for a sensitive House position -- and if Pelosi doesn't move on Rangel soon, she's going to be in the same boat.
Nancy'll never be voted out. Even if the Pubs win the next election she'll still be in Congress, along with Charlie and those like them.