It's Time to Put a Corrupt Politician Away

If a Republican oversteps his bounds, he is pressured by other Republicans to step down and, in most cases, does. They understand that, like the cops, public officials have a duty to police themselves hard in order to retain trust with the public.

Not so with Democrats. It's usually a badge of honor in the Democratic party. I'm talking about you, Bill Clinton.

Take Charlie Rangel as another example. How, you ask? Over 39 years, he has compiled a record like this:

• Living in rent-stabilized apartments while making a hefty salary.


• Failing to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in earnings and assets.


• Applying for tax breaks and claiming a house in Washignton, D.C., as his personal residence when it was really a row house in Harlem.


• In 1989, he took out a $60,000 loan on his childhood home in New York, declaring that home to be his primary residence in order to obtain a low interest rate.


• Rangel was listing three addresses as his primary residence, and, at least between 1995 and 2000, getting tax breaks because of it.


• Last year, The Post revealed Rangel’s failure to fully disclose rental income on a beachfront villa in a resort in the Dominican Republic. In a press conference, Rangel admitted that he had failed to declare $75,000 in rental income, and later paid the IRS and New York State $10,800 in back taxes.


• In August, Rangel amended his required financial disclosure forms for 2002 through 2006, acknowledging that he omitted as much as $780,000 in assets in previous filings.


• He also apparently forgot on earlier filings to disclose two small vacant lots in Glassboro, N.J., land on which he owed back taxes. He paid the $164 bill the next month, after The Post revealed the debt.

When he's caught he just blames a vast right-wing conspiracy. It works for the Clintons.

You can find the original article here.