Does crime pay on Capitol Hill?

By Oscar Y. Harward

If a Representative in the US House fails to list and pay taxes for 17 years, should he/she be prosecuted and jailed? Would it make any difference if he/she was the former “tax-writing” Chairman of Ways and Means Committee?

If a Representative in the US House used government offices, government employees, and government stationary in failing to report $600,000 in annual income for an effort of 5 years to raise a total of $30 million for his/her own personal organization, should he/she be prosecuted and jailed?

If a Representative in the US House fails to list hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets, should he/she be prosecuted and jailed?

If a Representative in the US House violated his/her lease by converting a residential unit into a campaign office, when others had been evicted for similar offenses, should he/she be prosecuted and jailed?

This may be a short summary of 13 charges brought against Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) by the US House Ethics Committee. Rep. Rangel was convicted of 11 of the 13 charges.

The US House Ethics Committee, on a 9 to 1 vote, is recommending “censure”? Why not expulsion? In despite of Rangel’s 20 term history, the penalty must be an example of following the law.

If a banker has been working with a financial firm for 40 years of financial success and then it was found that the banker had stolen and/or misappropriated $1 million, should he/she be “censured” or should he/she fired and prosecuted? In any business, the common-sense answer would be fired and prosecuted.

The House Ethics Committee says that Congressman Rangel is guilty. Of these 11 of 13 convicted issues that were addressed, how much of taxpayers’ money is adequate for expulsion?

Is a majority on Capitol Hill so corrupt as to bequeath Congressman Rangel a “pass” with a “censure” rather than “expulsion”? Congressman Rangel says he is not a crook. The hard evidence will dispute that.

Where is any moral or legal responsibility for any member of the US House Ethics Committee to vote for “censure” rather than “expulsion”? Where is any moral or legal reasoning and responsibility for any member of the US House vote for “censure” rather than “expulsion”?

How can members of Congress on Capitol Hill expect to ever achieve the trust from Americans? Should it be a “trust” for members of Congress to receive nobility from Americans serving in “public service”? Members of Congress must prove that “Crime does not pay on Capitol Hill”.