Thread: Charles Rangel, Purveyor of High Taxes, AKA, Tax Cheat!

Charles Rangel, Purveyor of High Taxes, AKA, Tax Cheat!
Friday, 12 September 2008
-John Lillpop

In October of 2007, Rep. Charles Rangel, (D-N.Y.), shocked the civilized world with a proposal so extreme that it was dubbed the "Mother of All Tax Hikes" by reasonable folks (Republicans) in the U.S. House.



ABC News

At the time, it was unclear why the rotund Rangel, head of the House tax-writing committee, would propose something so draconian.
Was this raspy-voiced bundle of liberal tomfoolery that out-of-touch about the devastating effect that over taxation can have on a family budget and the national economy?

As it turns out, Rangel was not concerned because he has been a tax cheat for 20 years! Higher taxes mean nothing if you do not pay them.

Example: Visit a local car wash and ask one of the illegal aliens trolling for loose change his opinion about higher taxes. Without exception, the respondent will shrug his shoulders and express his complete apathy, in Spanish.

You see, illegal aliens do not pay taxes, but they steal public services paid for by people who do. If anything, higher taxes mean a bigger pool of dinero from which illegals can steal.

Charles Rangel's case is much the same.

Except that the powerful lawbreaker has been caught with his chubby fingers stuck in the cookie jar, and now owes the IRS as much as $10,000 in unpaid taxes, penalties and fines.

USA Today:

According to the likable Rangel, he has gone 20 years without knowing the details of his beach property in the Dominican Republic.

Here we have the man responsible for writing the tax code for an entire nation, yet when it comes to his own taxes, questions like "How much rent was collected?" and "How much rent should be reported as income?" are beyond his ability to answer.

Rather than sorting through the tax code and filing an honest return like any normal American, Rangel chose to ignore the traditional admonition, which holds that "cheaters never prosper." Instead, he did both for 20 years.

In a real grasp at straws even for a hypocritical liberal, Rangel blamed the confusion in part on language and cultural barriers with the operators of the resort.

There you go! Another fundamental reason why English Only MUST be made the law of the land in America, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and other locations where tax-adverse liberals have investments.

Still, it is best for America that this Rangel thug has not been sent to prison.

After all, the cost to feed the behemoth leftist might lead to even higher taxes, and that would make Rangel deliriously happy!
http://www.borderfirereport.net/john-w. ... cheat.html

Get comprehensive immigration, then we will still hire illegals.

Just peachy.

Rangel admits $75,000 in unreported income

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) was forced to admit this week that he had not reported at least $75,000 in rental income from a posh Dominican Republic villa he has owned for 20 years. The villa at the Punta Cana Yacht Club rents for $500 a night during the off-season and $1,100 a night during the peak season (December through April). Rangel has only sporadically claimed income on the property, and he claimed that he received no income at all in 2006 and 2007. Managers at the Yacht Club, however, maintain that Rangel’s villa is the hottest property on the beach and is booked solid during every peak season. Rangel’s lawyer acknowledged his client’s shady tax reporting after the New York Post broke the story early this week. Rangel, however, blamed it on “cultural and language barriersâ€

Rangel Says He Regrets 'Errors,' Rejects Calls to Cede Panel Post

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) said he regretted his failure to account for the $75,000 in income his Caribbean property generated, calling the omission "irresponsible."

By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 11, 2008; Page A15

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) acknowledged yesterday that he had not lived up to the "higher standard" expected of members of Congress, but he maintained that he should not be punished politically for failing to disclose and pay taxes on rental income from his Caribbean resort property.

The Ways and Means Committee chairman, who is battling three ethics controversies, said he would file amended tax returns and pay federal, state and local taxes he owes -- an amount that his attorney, Lanny Davis, estimated at more than $10,000 for 2004 to 2006. Rangel's accountants are working to determine his tax liability for the rest of the 20 years that he has owned the three-bedroom villa in the Dominican Republic, Davis said.

Rangel, 78, said he regretted his failure to account for the $75,000 in income the property generated, calling the omission "irresponsible." He said he did not know of any income because proceeds from rentals were automatically credited toward his mortgage and because he seldom received financial statements from the resort managers.

"I do hope that my explanation will be sufficient to say that we do make errors, even though we consider ourselves experts in terms of tax policy for the nation," said the Harlem Democrat, whose influential committee helps shape the tax code.

The congressman rejected Republicans' calls for him to step down from his chairmanship while the House ethics committee investigates the villa deal. The ethics panel also is conducting separate inquiries into Rangel's rental of several New York apartments at below-market rates and his fundraising entreaties on congressional stationery to corporations and foundations on behalf of an academic center that bears his name. All the investigations came at Rangel's request after news organizations reported on the issues.

"I really don't believe that making mistakes means that you have to give up your career," Rangel said. Later, he added: "I personally feel that I've done nothing morally wrong."

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said Rangel should step aside while the ethics committee investigates.

"Just because he's my friend doesn't mean that I can excuse him from the rules of the House or the law of the land," Boehner said on the House floor. He added: "The sooner we get this cleaned up, the better."


Republicans have used Rangel's ethical troubles to turn the tables on Democrats, who in winning back control of the House in 2006 argued that the GOP-run Congress was plagued by a "culture of corruption."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "continues to blatantly ignore her promise to run the 'most ethical congress in history,' " Ken Spain, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement. "The time has come for Charlie Rangel to go on a permanent vacation and trade his powerful committee chair in for his favorite lounge chair on the beach."

Rangel said he paid $88,900 for the beachfront villa in 1988, financing it with a down payment of $28,900 and a loan from the developer to cover the rest. After two years, he said, the developer decided to waive the interest on loans for Rangel and other early investors. Rangel later borrowed an additional $23,000 -- with interest -- to add the third bedroom to the unit. That mortgage also was paid off with rental proceeds, he said.

Rangel said he uses the villa fewer than 10 days a year and occasionally has allowed friends, House staffers and other members of Congress to stay there. He declined to name them.

The 38-year veteran of the House has drawn criticism not just from the GOP, but also from the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which yesterday included him on its annual list of the "most corrupt" members of Congress.

But Rangel, who has routinely won reelection by large margins, said he does not fear for his political future. "I'm a lucky old son of a gun," he said. "Ain't nothing going to stop me from getting back here next year."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 03462.html

From the Desk of Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton:

Rangel Nailed Again - Failed to Pay Taxes on Caribbean Resort Property

Charles B. Rangel, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the committee in charge of writing tax policy for the entire nation, "forgot" to pay taxes on $75,000 income he received from his rental property in the Dominican Republic.

Here's the scoop according to The Washington Post:

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) acknowledged yesterday that he had not lived up to the "higher standard" expected of members of Congress, but he maintained that he should not be punished politically for failing to disclose and pay taxes on rental income from his Caribbean resort property.

The Ways and Means Committee chairman, who is battling three ethics controversies, said he would file amended tax returns and pay federal, state and local taxes he owes -- an amount that his attorney, Lanny Davis, estimated at more than $10,000 for 2004 to 2006. Rangel's accountants are working to determine his tax liability for the rest of the 20 years that he has owned the three-bedroom villa in the Dominican Republic, Davis said.

Rangel, 78, said he regretted his failure to account for the $75,000 in income the property generated, calling the omission "irresponsible."

But it gets worse. News reports also surfaced this week that Rangel paid no mortgage interest on the property for over 10 years! According to the Associated Press, "[Lanny] Davis [Rangel's lawyer] said Rangel did not know until very recently he had not been charged interest for more than a decade."

(By the way, I'm not surprised at all to see former Clinton special counsel and long-time apologist Lanny Davis representing yet another corrupt public official.)

With respect to the other "ethics controversies" noted by the Post, as I reported to you in July, Rangel allegedly used his congressional office to raise funds from corporations that have business before his committee in order to bankroll his Charles P. Rangel Center for Public Service. Rangel has also been accused of using his influence to keep four extremely rare rent-stabilized apartments (in others words, cheap) in Harlem while his neighbors are being subjected to eviction.

Has Rangel learned anything from this slew of scandals that bear his name? Not at all. After the Rangel Center scandal broke, the New York Congressman chose to stage a publicity stunt, filing an ethics complaint against himself, rather than accepting responsibility for his actions. When asked about his recent tax scandal, Rangel boasted, "I'm a lucky old son of a gun…Ain't nothing going to stop me from getting back here next year."

Given the House Ethics Committee's shameless record of ignoring wrongdoing by members of Congress, Rangel can say that with confidence. But without question in my mind he has no business running a major congressional committee. And if he had any shame, he'd retire gracefully.

Um if it were one of us, he would say ignorance of the law is not an excuse. Throw him out and throw him in jail.