Thursday, November 18, 2010
House Ethics Violation. Really?
Today the hearing for congressman Charles Rangel began and ended. He is a senior house member representing Harlem- New York and has been serving that area since 1970. He was convicted of 11 counts of ethics violations which included; failing to pay taxes on a home in D.R, misuse of a rent-controlled apartment for political purposes, and improper use of his office to raise funds for a public policy center named for him. The committee (made up of 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans) session ended in a 9 to 1 vote in favor of a "Censure" punishment. " A censure is typically considered to be the most serious penalty short of expulsion. It generally requires a congressman to stand on the floor of the House while being publicly rebuked." The bigger question is how could this man stay in the house for 40 years without being "caught" of these ethics violations. On Nov. 29 another house member, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California, will go and face the ethics committee. How many more unethical people can be in power spots in our government? In a 2008 USA today study, they asked over 1,000 federal workers if they've observed any type of ethics violation; 52% of them said yes at the federal level. This should be an alarming and a surprising fact, we trust these people to run our government efficiently and honorably, yet half of them do shady material. If these violations (ie: Tax Evasion/Avoidence) were applied to a normal Joe, wouldn't he be serving time in prison?
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I don't know what to say because this is really shocking to me. You would think that during some reelection an ambitious newcomer would really try to uncover a scandal and that may cost them the seat in the House. But when I think about it more and more, I can find some kind of reason for why they have been able to keep these secrets for so long: the incumbency effect. They have a large enough staff support to do some of the covering up, they have skills to negotiate and a huge war chest that might intimidate others from trying to get something against them. And, I feel that politics in general is so stressful and demanding, congressmen do resort to these underhanded methods because it makes their jobs easier and also helps them keep their support. I think that we do sometimes expect too many unrealistic things from our congressmen that they resort to these methods. I'm not saying that it justify their violations, but if we expect them to be Superman, almost any politician is going to want not disappoint voters in fear of losing seat. But, there are those congressmen who, with their power money and prestige, may feel justified that they can get away with anything. It's Narcissism, like Elliot Spitzer.
In the end, I know that there will always be shady business in politics and shady characters as well. But it really shocks me to see how wide spread it is. Its cheating culture all over, and we as a nation are living in a hypocrite's paradise. We took about extremist morals yet half of our Congress men are apparently in unscrupulous deals. I'm not sure what to say.
When this issue first came up the only thing I thought was, "how surprising, another corrupt mule." However, I now have even more to say. Although Rangel's punishment may seem too lax, I now hold the position that it may in fact be too harsh. Yes, Rangel is a Democrat. Yes, he "forgot" to pay taxes. Yes, he has abused his power to garner support for a policy center. However, No his "not a crook", well at least not entirely. In his tenure as a politician, Rangel has furthered the efforts of many interest including those of the poor, uneducated, those with human rights violations, and also those industries affected most by the attack of the Trade Towers on 9/11/2001. As a symbol of leadership in the country, I think that the open rebuke of Rangel by his fellow representatives will reduce the publics respect for the congress even more than it currently is. Rangel's issues should have been silenced and dealt with professionally rather than turning his embarrassing situation into a national spectacle. In order to answer the questions of those who want to respond to my enlightened opinion; No, I don't think that congressmen should be above the law or above punishment, but I believe that there are more delicate and subtle manners in which ethics violations can be dealt with, and ways in which Rangel could possible resign and pay(with money) for his crimes without letting the public catch wind of why he would resign. We do not make public examples out of esteemed senators or representatives, but yes we do make a public example out of a "normal Joe", this is done to preserve the nations image in the eyes of the general public and of people around the world. A good example of this would be President Ford expunging Ex-President Nixon for his possible involvement in the Watergate scandal, such a political maneuver saved the nation additional disgrace.
Well, you can't blame Rangel, the rent is too damn high.
On a more serious note, I think he should definitely have a more serious punishment. The people who govern us should be roll models, not widely seen as corrupt. In my opinion, punishments for congressmen should be more severe than punishments for normal people. Maybe if there is more incentive to behave morally, Americans will begin to trust their representatives. Public opinion of Congress is extremely low and in most cases, it seems like Congress deserves this.
Censure by the House does not preclude Rangel being prosecuted under the law. This might not be the last word on consequences.
Will the voters of NYC (centered on Harlem) support Rangel despite his ethical lapses? In a general election against a Republican, definitely yes. Against another Democrat? We'll see. If Tim Geithner can be Treasury Secretary despite impossibly sloppy tax returns, I can imagine Rangel's supporters sticking by him. Something like : "all politicians are corrupt, but at least he's *our* corrupt (and previously effective) politician, plus it will drive the GOP crazy..."
Compare to: Marion Barry.
"If these violations (ie: Tax Evasion/Avoidence) were applied to a normal Joe, wouldn't he be serving time in prison?"
Not if average Joe isn't caught, right? People do things like this because they think they won't get caught, and it's only reinforced by the fact that they're right, most of the time.
Consider pirating music. (It's stealing. You're getting something that's supposed to be paid for.)
The best you can really do, without resorting to George Orwell-style secret police, is hope for the best and deal with it when it comes up. Especially, in this case, considering what Mr. Silton just said about this not being the last possible consequence.
Unethical-ness (what's the proper word?) in the government may be unfortunate but in a perfect world we wouldn't need a government.
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