The House “accepted his resignation,” but there’s blood on the floor. McClatchy Newspapers reports:
Rep. Charles Rangel’s decision to step aside as the chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee not only could be the beginning of the end of his storiedcareer , but also gives Republicans fresh ammunition to use against Democrats in November’s elections.[...]
Still, Rangel’s decision didn’t stop Republicans from hammering away at Democrats on ethics lapses, much as Democrats pummeled the GOP about ethics when Republicans controlled the House from 1995 to 2007.
BTW, I shared the video on Facebook with the son of the man Rangel defeated 40 years ago, Adam Clayton Powell III. Adam wrote on my wall:
It was inevitable. And the day after the anniversary of the 1967 vote to exclude his predecessor!On his “Hour of Power” radio show last Sunday, Al Sharpton observed:
There are all kinds of crises around blacks in power … How should we govern? Those of us who achieve the level of power, we never concentrated on how we ought to behave once we achieve power.Sharpton added:
With progress also comes new responsibility … What are our responsibilities to our community? ... What does it take to govern as we grow in stature and strength?
For starters, it’s indefensible if you’re the chairman of the tax-writing committee and you, er, allegedly fail to pay taxes on a villa you own in the Dominican Republic.
Also, if you represent a congressional district, where the labor force participation rate is roughly 50 percent and more than 35 percent of your constituents live below the poverty level, you don’t grab four rent-stabilized apartments for your personal use.