Are Congressman Rangels Sins Mortal, Or Venial?
Many, for instance lefty Joe Klein, think Rangel is a “crook”. Others, including some on the right, like Ira Stoll, aren’t so sure. On the substance of the various charges against Mr. Rangel, it just seems bizarre to fault him for trying to raise private money for an academic center that otherwise would have probably been funded out of taxpayer dollars, which would have been worse. On the rent control matters, the scandal isn’t Mr. Rangel but the whole system. The most serious matter appears to be the IRS issues involving income from a rental villa. It’s hard to see how on that one the House ethics cops are in any better position to pass judgment on the matter than is the IRS. That Congressman Rangel broke House rules is not in doubt. That he underpaid his income taxes for years is also not in doubt. (He has now caught up.) But, as of now, I don’t know enough to decide whether this shows that he needed better staff and a better accountant, or whether this shows that he thought that he
