Conservative Leaders Decry Continuing Culture of Corruption

by Spectator.org

Rangel & Pelosi: the Culture of Corruption Continues

"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." Tacitus

 
RE: In 2006, then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi criticized the Republicans for instituting a "culture of corruption." However, while serving as Speaker of the House, Pelosi has overseen a deterioration of principled governance that is spiraling out of control. The most recent revelation that House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel has withheld over $600,000 in assets is indicative that the culture of corruption is alive and well under Democratic leadership.

ACTION: We urge you to contact your elected representatives in Congress and remind them that Charles Rangel is ill-suited to remain in his position as Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and if he does not step down voluntarily Speaker Pelosi has a responsibility to remove him.

ISSUE IN BRIEF:

Since Speaker Pelosi was sworn in 2007, the culture of corruption has continued under her leadership.

· Federal law requires members of Congress to reveal their incomes and holdings. According to the New York Daily News, "Rangel failed to include on his forms money that he has in an IRA and in four mutual fund accounts, as well as the value of holdings in various corporations as well the value of three parcels of land." He also omitted the value of a vacation property in the Dominican Republic.

· When faced with ethics investigations, Rangel submitted new assets that doubled his reported net worth to $2.5 million.

· Rangel has made campaign contributions to three of the five Democrats investigating him on the Ethics Committee. Despite the year-long investigation, it has not come back with a ruling.

· Thus far, Pelosi has refused to take any action on her own, but has instead deferred to the dormant Ethics Committee.

· While it is egregious that the man in charge of writing America's tax laws is under investigation for not reporting income, this example is representative of a pattern of corruption in Pelosi's Congress. This past summer, former Congressman William Jefferson was convicted on four charges in a bribery trial. During the investigation, $90,000 in cash was found in his freezer.

· The Justice Department is currently investigating a defense lobbying group that has supported Congressman John Murtha (D-PA). The group may have negotiated with the congressman's staff members in exchange for multimillion dollar earmark projects.

· Congressman Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-IN), a senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, has been subpoenaed in the investigation of the same lobbying firm that has supported Congressman Murtha. Visclosky has received $1.4 million from clients of Defense contractors while he has helped to disperse millions in federal earmarks to those firms.

· Congressman Alan Mollohan (D-WV) is currently under investigation by the Justice Department after becoming a multi-millionaire through business deals with individuals who benefited from his earmarks and/or other official actions. Mollohan chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee which funds the Justice Department and has not been removed by Speaker Pelosi, despite the obvious conflict of interest.