Focus on Rangel, a Chairman Under Investigation

Representative Charles B. Rangel of New York is increasingly in the spotlight these days and not just because he is in the thick of the health care debate as chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

Just as the health care fight heads to the floors of the House and Senate, Republicans are intensifying efforts to make Mr. Rangel a symbol of Democratic misconduct and institutional arrogance because of his belated disclosure of personal assets and other financial missteps.

Despite some unease, Democrats say they are willing to stand by Mr. Rangel and will resist efforts to topple him from his chairmanship pending the anxiously awaited outcome of an ethics investigation that Mr. Rangel himself requested last year.

Read more: (Carl Hulse, “Focus on Rangel, a Chairman Under Investigation,” The New York Times, 10/03/09)