On Thursday, House leaders will pay tribute to Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), less than a year after the House formally censured the former chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will speak at a ceremony to unveil Rangelâs official portrait as chairman of the storied committee, which the longtime New York Democrat led from 2007 until March 2010, when party leaders pressured him to give up the post amid a growing ethics scandal. In December, the House voted overwhelmingly, 333-79, to censure Rangel over rules violations that stemmed from unpaid taxes on a villa he owned in the Dominican Republic, undisclosed financial assets and the improper use of his office for fundraising. The portrait itself was the subject of controversy. Just nine months into his term as chairman, Rangel asked the Federal Election Commission for permission to use campaign funds to pay for the portrait, which his lawyer said would cost more than $64,000. The FEC confirmed that Rangel could bill the expense to his campaign, which records show he did in 2008, according to the Sunlight Foundation. When pressed about the pricey picture, Rangel joked to reporters at the time that he would have preferred a mural. As one commenter asked, "What's next? a statue of Bin Laden at the 9/11 monument?" http://thehill.com/homenews/house/183047-house-leaders-to-honor-rangel-nine-months-after-censure
They don't have the stones not to honor the crook. They can't stand being called racist, even when it's obviously BS.
It's the "I'll watch your back and you watch mine." crowd in D.C. Term limits are absolutely, positively needed. If there were only one law to be passed in the next year, term limits for the Congress and Senate would be the most important for this country.