Wrangling Charlie Rangel, Part 2

As I said in September, I wasn't sure how Charlie Rangel was going to survive this ethics investigation.  Now that he's been officially admonished by the House Ethics committee, it's looking tougher and tougher for him to keep his gavel.

As calls increase for New York congressman Charlie Rangel to step down or be removed as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday she won't take action until she has the full results of an ethics investigation into Rangel's real estate deals and corporate-sponsored Caribbean trips. Appearing on ABC's "This Week," Pelosi said Rangel's alleged misdeeds have not "jeopardized our country in any way."

Meanwhile, opposition to the Harlem veteran spread from Republicans and newspaper editorial pages to his own party. The House Ethics Committee admonished Rangel on Friday for taking two corporate-sponsored trips to the Carribean in violation of House rules. The New York Times on Saturday called for Rangel's removal, citing his "arrogance" at a Thursday hearing of the matter. (The paper has also led the way in investigating Rangel's finances with stories on a sweetheart apartment deal in Harlem and numerous properties he failed to report on his taxes.) The Washington Post has editorialized against Rangel twice.

Rangel's in serious trouble here, and he needs to step aside if only to take the heat off health care reform going forward.  The argument "Do you want Democrats like Charlie Rangel running health care" is a strong one.  My answer is no.  Rangel's crooked.  Fair or unfair, you get held to a higher standard when your party is in charge.  Dems would do well to remember how ethics hurt them badly in 1994.