House Votes To Censure Charlie Rangel For Ethics Violations

From TPM.com

The House of Representatives voted 332 to 79 to censure Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) on Thursday for violations of the body's ethics laws.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) read the censure on the floor of the House immediately following the vote.

Today's vote brought an end to the investigation of the long serving New York Democrat, who was found to have violated 11 of the House ethics rules. The charges centered upon four issues: that Rangel used Congressional resources to raise money for an educational center bearing his name; that he failed to report taxable income on a rental villa in the Dominican Republic; the he filed inaccurate financial disclosure forms; and that he used a rent-controlled apartment in Harlem as a campaign office.

Several members from both parties spoke in support changing the punishment from censure to reprimand (For more on how these punishments have played out in the past, see here.)

And Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), a member of the ethics committee, proposed a motion to lessen the sanction from censure to reprimand that ultimately failed by a vote of 146-267. It had the support of 143 Democrats and three Republicans: Reps. Pete King (NY), Ron Paul (TX) and Don Young (AK).

Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) argued that the whatever sanction was levied against Rangel should be consistent with precedent. "He knows he messed up," Scott said. Censure would be "singularly harsh and unfair and without precedent."

King also spoke in support of reducing the punishment to a reprimand, but upped the ante on the rhetoric. Censure is to a reprimand as the death penalty is to prison, King said, while noting that he and Rangel "disagree on virtually every issue."

A sad end to a long career.

Thank you, House of Representatives

Thank you House of Representatives, and thank you Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has done something none of the ' legendary' Speakers were able to do.
Today was history, folks.

FINAL VOTE-HR 3590: 219 Yea 212 Nay




from Wonkette:
HAHAHAHAH. Nancy Pelosi loves pissing off teabaggers. Here she is linking arms with John Lewis, just like in the Selma march, to remind America of how teabaggers chanted “nigger” at John Lewis fifteen times yesterday. And if anyone gets in her way, she will smash their skulls into sandhills of calcium with her Weapon, the “1965 Medicare gavel,” forged by ancient socialist hobbits in a distant epoch, as a paean to Thor.

From BooMan:

Waterloo Bounces Off Us, Sticks to You
by BooMan
Sun Mar 21st, 2010 at 06:12:00 PM EST

David Frum is feeling glum.

Former Bush speechwriter David Frum says Republicans bet that the health care reform bill would be President Obama's Waterloo -- "just as health care was Clinton's in 1994."

"Only, the hardliners overlooked a few key facts: Obama was elected with 53% of the vote, not Clinton's 42%. The liberal block within the Democratic congressional caucus is bigger and stronger than it was in 1993-94. And of course the Democrats also remember their history, and also remember the consequences of their 1994 failure."

"This time, when we went for all the marbles, we ended with none... We followed the most radical voices in the party and the movement, and they led us to abject and irreversible defeat."

I wouldn't say they got nothing. It just got a lot harder for those of us who would like to do away with the Hyde Amendment, and if we're not careful, the stupid Ben Nelson language in the Senate bill will make it harder for people to find a provider to help end a pregnancy. I'd say that the anti-choice movement made some progress in this messy process, and that's at least something that Republicans can point to as progress. But, in the larger picture, David Frum is correct. This bill might have been the Republican version of health care fifteen-twenty years ago. Today it passes with no Republican support. And they have so poisoned the minds of their supporters, that they will never be able to govern effectively in this new paradigm. They screwed themselves. Plus, this bill greatly expands Medicaid. Last I checked, not too many people using Medicaid vote for Republicans. If their party goes from being the Party of No to the Party of Repeal, they'll create at least 31 million solid Democrats. Idiots.

is it what I wanted?

NO.

But, it's a first step.

President Obama addresses House Democratic Caucus

hat tip:W.E.E. See You

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