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| Politics Forum Index » Democrats (House) Politics Forum » Democrats Defeat Honesty, Integrity, Accountability... |
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| Democrat Scum... |
 Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 7:28 am |
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/us/politics/08rangel.html
WASHINGTON — House Democrats on Wednesday blocked a Republican
effort to force Representative Charles B. Rangel from the
chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee and instead
referred the demand to the ethics panel already investigating
him.
As expected, the House voted 246 to 153 to essentially table the
call for the ouster of Mr. Rangel, Democrat of New York.
Representative John Carter, Republican of Texas, had sought Mr.
Rangel’s removal in a resolution that said national attention to
financial lapses by the chairman of the tax-writing committee
has “held the House up to public ridicule.”
Under rules governing consideration of such resolutions in the
House, there was no debate on the proposal. But Democrats and a
few Republicans said the House should take no action until the
ethics panel, which has been studying the case for more than a
year, reached a conclusion on Mr. Rangel’s belated disclosure of
significant personal assets and his initial failure to pay taxes
on some income.
Mr. Rangel sat in the front row of the House chamber as the nine-
page resolution recounting news articles and editorials about
his financial missteps was read twice in full, a process that
consumed about 30 minutes.
“All I can say is I voted for the motion to table and send it to
the ethics committee,” said Mr. Rangel as he exited the chamber.
“I have been waiting patiently for the ethics committee to make
a judgment. That is where it belongs. It does not belong on the
floor.”
Though Republicans were defeated in their effort, they still
obtained what they wanted in political terms: another vote they
can try to use to suggest that Democrats, and specifically
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are protecting Mr. Rangel.
Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader,
said in a statement that the vote “is just the latest example of
Speaker Pelosi breaking her promise to have the most ‘open and
ethical’ Congress in history.”
“Instead of holding Chairman Rangel accountable for his
actions,” the statement said, “House Democrats are once again
circling the wagons and demonstrating their loyalty to a leader
who faces serious questions about his official conduct.”
The speaker’s office disputed his characterization, with Brendan
Daly, a spokesman for Ms. Pelosi, saying that “today’s
bipartisan vote sent a clear message that the independent ethics
committee must be allowed to complete its work.”
Whether Republicans can turn Mr. Rangel into a potent symbol of
government misconduct remains to be seen, but they do believe
that it can help them create an image of Democratic ethical
problems in the run-up to the 2010 midterm elections.
Two Democrats, Representatives Travis W. Childers and Gene
Taylor of Mississippi, voted with 151 Republicans in seeking to
remove Mr. Rangel; 6 Republicans voted with 240 Democrats in
sending the resolution to the ethics committee.
Among the Republicans was Representative Peter T. King, a home-
state colleague of Mr. Rangel. “I think it is a dangerous
precedent to find someone guilty before the ethics committee has
made a decision,” Mr. King said.
Thirty-three House members, including members of the ethics
committee, either did not vote or voted present. |
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