E-nough!: NYC Letter: The Superlative Congress, Part I

August 30, 2009

NYC Letter: The Superlative Congress, Part I

Day 222 of CHOPE

The American people voted to restore integrity and honesty in Washington, D.C., and the Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open and most ethical* Congress in history.

Nancy Pelosi (D-CA, 8th),
soon-to-be-Speaker, amusing us with her bomphiologia
WASHINGTON November 7, 2006 (WaPo)

Here is Charlie Rangel (D-NY, 15th) -- an exemplar of Ms. Pelosi's Congressional superlatives: most honest, most open, most ethical.

RANGEL FAILED TO DISCLOSE $500,000 IN ASSETS FOR ’07

August 25, 2009 (NYT) - United States Representative Charles B. Rangel, whose personal finances and fund-raising are the subject of two House ethics investigations, failed to report at least $500,000 in assets on his 2007 Congressional disclosure form, according to an amended report he filed this month.
Among the dozen newly disclosed holdings revealed in the amended forms are a checking account at a federal credit union with a balance between $250,0000 and $500,000; three vacant lots in Glassboro, N.J., valued at a total of $1,000 to $15,000; and stock in PepsiCo worth between $15,000 and $50,000.

The updated forms report that Mr. Rangel’s total net worth is between $1,028,024 and $2,495,000 — about twice the amount listed in the original disclosure statement, filed in May 2008, which declared assets totaling between $516,015 and $1,316,000.

Mr. Rangel declined to discuss the matter, saying he did not want to comment publicly while the investigations continue.

Who among us hasn't lost track of a loose $500,000 around tax time? Who hasn't made a rounding error of 50% estimating net worth? [Pause.] Easy error. Common mistake.

RANGEL FAILED TO DISCLOSE MORE INCOME
AND ASSETS, FORMS SHOW

August 28, 2009 (NYT) - Representative Charles B. Rangel failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income and assets on his financial disclosure forms for 2002 through 2006, including tens of thousands of dollars in rental income from a Harlem brownstone he sold in 2004, according to records filed this month with the clerk of the House of Representatives.
Mr. Rangel, who is facing investigations by two House subcommittees into his personal finances and fund-raising, filed amended financial disclosure forms on Aug. 12 acknowledging that he had omitted an array of assets, business transactions and sources of income. They include a Merrill Lynch Global account valued between $250,000 and $500,000; tens of thousands of dollars in municipal bonds; and $30,000 to $100,000 in rent from a multifamily brownstone building he owned on West 132nd Street.

... A spokesman for Mr. Rangel, a Democrat who has represented Harlem since 1971, issued a written statement saying the errors were inadvertent.

Mr. Rangel declined to discuss the latest revelations about his finances, which were reported on Friday by The New York Post.

[Mr. Rangel is the chair of] the Ways and Means Committee, which writes the tax code and is involved in shaping major policy, from the financial bailout to the health care plan.

Mr. Rangel is at the helm of the nation's finances. Spending your money obviously leaves him little time to keep track of his own.

CHARLIE'S MORTGAGE BARES HOME UNTRUTH

WASHINGTON August 29, 2009 (NYPost) - Rep. Charles Rangel claimed on mortgage papers that a Harlem brownstone was his principal residence -- even though he was living elsewhere at the time, The Post has learned.
When the Democrat -- who is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee -- took out the mortgage in 1990, he said the property on West 132nd Street was his "principal residence," records show.

But Rangel has been living since the 1970s in Harlem's Lenox Terrace apartment complex, where he improperly amassed four rent-stabilized properties.

... Last November, Rangel and five other members of Congress took a junket to the Caribbean with $100,000 from Citigroup [Citibank is Mr. Rangel's mortgage lender] -- just weeks after Congress bailed out banks with $700 billion in taxpayer funds.

... Newly filed financial-disclosure reports show Rangel has understated his annual earnings, his assets and his business dealings by millions of dollars since 2002, The Post has reported.

This is not the first time Rangel has gotten into trouble claiming property as his primary residence. Last year, The Post reported that Rangel had been claiming a "homestead" tax break in Washington, DC, while claiming primary residency in New York.

Meanwhile, Rangel again refused to answer any questions yesterday.

Dizzy? Can't keep Mr. Rangel's lapses straight? Here's a scorecard.

CABINET MATERIAL
Talents For Misreporting And Underestimation
Would Be Assets (And This) At OMB
[Graphic source: NY Post/William Farrington]