No ethics medal for Rangel

We’ve long admired the achievements of Congressman Charlie Rangel of New York, who rose from a tough childhood in Harlem to a career of public service in New York and a leadership role in the U.S. House of Representatives.

With a witty – some would say charming -- demeanor, the 79-year-old Rangel is one of those rare politicians who can make himself understood clearly in ten words or less.

Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee in the House, Rangel has been admonished by a House ethics panel for accepting trips to the Caribbean from a private corporation. While that panel exonerated four other Congressmen who were also on those trips in 2007 and 2008, they didn't absolve Rangel.

Alas, Rangel’s utterance this week in defense of those trips was more than ten words. He was dancing the old “Potomac two-step,” and it’s not a happy situation for Rangel or his supporters.

The usually amiable Rangel told a news conference, “I don’t want to be critical of the committee but common sense dictates that members of Congress should not be held responsible for what could be the wrongdoing or mistakes or errors of staff unless there’s reason to believe that member knew or should have known, and there is nothing in the record to indicate the latter.”

Army hero Charlie Rangel, winner of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his valiant service during the Korean War, wouldn’t duck responsibility. But this is another Charlie Rangel, numbed by some 40 years on Capitol Hill, deflecting responsibility and suggesting underlings were to blame.

Charlie Rangel has done a lot of good things for his constituents in Manhattan. And he’s done a lot of good things for his country. But I fear he has succumbed to the ways of Washington, cutting corners and losing touch with the people – and the principles – that may have lured him to public service in the first place.

It’s a powerful example of why we need term limits for most elected officials.

Barney & Chris....but where's the media?

As we've continued to monitor the bailout of banks, insurance companies, and now the automobile industry, it truly does make one wonder: where does it end?

I remain heartened by the voting of Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, South Dakota's at-large U.S. Representative, who seems to "get it" regarding proposed bailouts. In any event, she is smart enough to know that a huge number of her constituents are appalled at the notion of constantly going to the taxpayers to "solve" problems created largely by these industries themselves. Once again, she has wisely voted to reject a bailout, despite her colleagues passing the $14 billion package.

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Consumers have not been entirely innocent in this nonsense. Many Americans have bought in to the notion that we are "entitled" to houses we can't afford, luxury cars that say more about who we want to be than who we are, and that personal responsibility is a cute notion -- but outdated.

We all share some responsibility for our national financial woes. Some more than others. I am amazed at how quickly the media has glossed over the conflicts of interest involving key politicians who've enjoyed cozy relationships and profitable perks from the industries they now want to bail out. That would be a cue for these two characters: U.S. Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, who wields too much unchecked power as Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

While they feign making things tough for their wealthy friends in finance and the monied moguls back in Detroit, their own complicity with those screaming for bailouts is deafening.

Let us hope that the "plain folks" back in their Massachusetts and Connecticut districts will one day soon overcome the power and influence of monied interests and send these two bureaucrats packing. They've fed at the public trough -- without much accountablity -- far too long.

We remain hopeful that the Senate will do an about face from its previous position on bailouts and banish the idea of an auto industry bailout to where it belongs -- the auto junkyard.

Bottoms up!

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I like this idea.

Until I belatedly read the Friday, October 3rd edition of the Wall Street Journal, I’d never heard of Thomas Peterffy. But then, I don’t recognize most of the names of financial moguls whose names adorn the pages of the Journal.

Peterffy is a Hungarian immigrant to the United States. He came here in the 1960s with little money and little knowledge of the English language, but he has fared well.

In full page advertisements in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, Peterffy outlines his plan to help solve our financial crisis from the bottom up rather than the top down.

I’m not an economist, but this plan looks plausible, and it certainly has greater potential to gain the support of American workers and retirees than the nebulous $700 billion “trickle down” bailout adopted by Congress. They were trying more to ingratiate themselves to corporate muckedy-mucks who contribute to their campaigns than assisting citizens back home.

Entitled Fix the Bailout to Help Homeowners, it’s worth the read.

The blame game

For the past many weeks, the media has been focused on the financial crisis that caused a flurry of activity in Wall Street boardrooms and the halls of Congress.

Big banks and financial institutions, fast on the heels of the sub-prime mortgage fiasco, have scurried to protect themselves, their Board members, their stockholders, and ostensibly their customers, from the consequences of a whole range of bad policies and practices.

Mostly, there’s been a huge blame game going on, especially in the United States Congress, which is wont to blame everyone of every persuasion – except themselves. Just who caused this financial mess?

Good friend Linda Vaught has shared with us a web site that does a remarkable job of sorting out the facts from a heap of rhetoric spewed out by politicians. It’s at FactCheck.org, an Annenberg project at the University of Pennsylvania.

It should be required reading for every politician.....and candidate.