EDITORIAL: Rangel’s Angles

There are two sets of rules for Charlie Rangel – the ones he writes for everyone else and the ones that are, or were, beneath his compliance, powerful personage that he is.

Over the past year, Rangel’s cavalier disregard of tax and ethics regulations became increasingly evident as his personal affairs were brought to light. There was a harrumphing alibi for each lapse, but the excuses became ever lamer as they mounted.

Now, Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the panel that writes America’s tax laws, has stopped blowing smoke. And well he should, because there’s no way to double-talk your way around failing to report at least a half-million-dollars worth of assets on financial disclosure forms.

Read more: (Editorial, “Charlie’s Angles,” New York Daily News, 8/27/09)