EDITORIAL: Rangel Should Step Aside During Ethics Probe

Partisanship is no doubt behind calls by GOP members of Congress for the removal of U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which writes tax laws.

A Republican bid for his removal last week failed when the House Democratic majority referred the matter to the House Ethics Committee, which is now well into the second year of its investigation of Rangel.

The New York congressman this year belatedly added $500,000 to his asset disclosure. He has allegedly claimed tax breaks for his primary residence in both Washington, D.C., and New York. He is accused of evading taxes on $75,000 in rental income from a beach house he owns in the Dominican Republic and trading tax favors for a contributor to a center named after him at New York’s City College, among other issues.

Read more: (Editorial, “U.S. Rep Rangel Should Step Aside During Ethics Probe,” The Detroit News, 10/12/09)