"TOO BIG TO FAIL, TOO BLACK TO PROGRESS--COLOR CORRECTION!" Rangel and Waters Investigations

[KoKo]

Monday, August 09, 2010
THE RACE ISSUE: VOLUME 121, ISSUE 150
TOO BIG TO FAIL, TOO BLACK TO PROGRESS--COLOR CORRECTION

by Malik Isasis

To go along with its theme of colored people ruining the lives of white people, the corporate media has targeted black Democratic Congressman Charlie Rangel, representing Harlem, and Congresswoman Maxine Waters, representing Watts. With power comes corruption, and no ethnic group is beyond corruption, but what makes this a targeting is the veracity, and certainty of guilt in the media's conjecture. Writer Earl Ofrai Hutchinson explains it this way:



A media which has disappeared the failings of George Bush and the Republicans' torture policy, illegal wiretap, embezzlement of federal funds, Hurricane Katrina, Iraq, and many other inhumane offenses, have chosen to make Maxine Waters, and Charles Rangle the face of corruption of 2010, inspite of there being several Republicans like David Vitter who sought out prostitutions, and is still in the senate, advocating rightwing policies. How about Republican Senator John Ensign, who had an affair with his staffer's wife, and then bribed the staffer with his parents' money; of course he is still in the seante carrying on with rightwing advocacy.

MAN BITES DOG

Waters and Rangel fit into the narrative the media creates to deflect, more accurately to sustain the political amnesia, which is apt to put Republicans back in power. Misinformation plays to the ongoing white paranoia brought on by economic distress, where white folks are having to reconstruct their egos, and what better way of reconstructing your ego than to blame others for the lack of employment and opportunities? Last I checked, corporations aren't owned by Black folks. Hitler proved to be a genius in this regard, blaming German's loss of World War I and its economic depression on German and Austria's Jewry. Blaming so that he can consolidate power.

White supremacists in America are doing this tried and true formula, using the economic downturn to racialize every aspect of American life, pitting poor whites against poor blacks, immigrants, and other people of color. It's what white supremacists do, they need the constant distraction of race wars to steal, and consolidate power and influence.

http://thematrixforeal.blogspot.com/

[msongs]

1. nothing but opinion with no facts to support or refute the merits of their cases lol nt

[KoKo]

2. Google their Voting Records... They are two of the Most Progressive Members of Congress...

and you will see why they are targeted. After Robert Gibbs screed, don't you have questions about WHO is BEING TARGETED these days?

[msongs]

3. the blog in question does NOT discuss the merits of the 2 cases - guilty or not guilty nt

[KoKo]

4. Rangel is a staunch liberal, voting with the majority of his Dem Colleagues 98.4 % of the Time...

The Issues

Rangel is a staunch liberal, voting with the majority of his Democratic colleagues 98.4 percent of the time in the 110th Congress.http://projects.washingtonpost.com/c...mbers/r000053/(
Why He Matters

Rangel is one of the House’s biggest personalities and one of its most enduring politicians. Hailing from historic Harlem in New York City, the 20-term lawmaker began his House career by ousting a long-time incumbent over 40 years ago and has been a Washington fixture ever since.

But in March 2010, he was forced to forfeit the long-coveted chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee after he was admonished by the House Standards of Official Conduct Committee. And on July 29, 2010, the House ethics committee, as its informally known, launched the opening phase of a trial of Rangel after negotiations to reach a settlement failed.Kane, Paul, Pershing, Ben and Branigin, William, The Washington Post, Charges against Rangel unveiled after efforts to reach settlement fail, July 29, 2010(1)Kane, Paul, Pershing, Ben and Branigin, William, The Washington Post, Charges against Rangel unveiled after efforts to reach settlement fail, July 29, 2010

The dean of New York's House delegation was charged with 13 "very serious" allegations of ethics breaches, including: failure to pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income on property he owns in the Dominican Republic; improper use of four rent-stabilized Harlem apartments, including one formerly housing a campaign office; failure to disclose hundreds of thousands dollars in personal assets on his annual financial disclosure forms; and the use of congressional stationery to seek funds for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York.Kane, Paul, Pershing, Ben and Branigin, William, The Washington Post, Charges against Rangel unveiled after efforts to reach settlement fail, July 29, 2010 (2)Kane, Paul, Pershing, Ben and Branigin, William, The Washington Post, Charges against Rangel unveiled after efforts to reach settlement fail, July 29, 2010 Investigative Subcommittee's Ethics Charges, June 17, 2010(3)Investigative Subcommittee's Ethics Charges, June 17, 2010

House Democrats rejected a move to strip Rangel of his chairmanship at the start of the 111th Congress, though the ethics probe continued.The Associated Press, “Democrats Reject Move to Strip Rangel of Chairmanship,” Feb. 10, 2009 (4)The Associated Press, “Democrats Reject Move to Strip Rangel of Chairmanship,” Feb. 10, 2009 Rangel has maintained that he wants to tell his side of the story and didn't do anything improper, but a trial would be highly embarrassing to House Democrats on the eve of a perilous election.Rangel response to ethics charges(5)Rangel response to ethics charges

A founder of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971, Rangel’s main focus earlier in his career was the war on drugs as the chairman until 1993 of the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control. Most of his career since has been aimed at using the tax code to help low-income Americans; he has was also an ardent foe of the Iraq war and argued to reinstate the draft, often jousting with Vice President Dick Cheney, who accused him of standing ready to hike taxes when he became Ways and Means chairman in 2007. Rangel replied that Cheney was “ a real son of a******” and suggested the veep may need to enter “rehab” to confront a personality disorder.Fox News, Oct. 31, 2006(6)Fox News, Oct. 31, 2006

When asked how he was doing once by a reporter, the Army veteran and Bronze Star recipient replied, “Back in Korea, I was lying in an icy ditch. Ninety percent of my unit had been injured or killed, some lying frozen not far away. I prayed I might get out of there alive, and I haven’t had a bad day since.”http://www.nysun.com/opinion/rooting...-rangel/82725/(7)
Path to Power

Rangel was born on June 11, 1930, and grew up in Harlem. The high-school dropout enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1948 and served until 1952. He earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star in the Korean War for rescuing 40 men from behind enemy lines.

After his time in the armed services, Rangel returned to New York and to college. He graduated from New York University in 1957 and St. John’s University School of Law in 1960. Then he entered the public sector as an assistant U.S. attorney in New York. In 1966 he was elected to the New York State Assembly, where he served two terms.http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts...?index=r000053(8)http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts...?index=r000053
U.S. House

In 1970, Rangel narrowly defeated 11-term congressman and civil-rights leader Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D), to win a seat in the House. A former chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and a former minister at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, Powell was Harlem’s first congressman after redistricting. But Powell’s health was failing and political scandals made him vulnerable. Since then, Rangel has almost always been re-elected with more than 90 percent of the vote.

In 1971, Rangel was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. He has fought for minorities abroad as well, including his battle in 1987 to add an anti-apartheid measure to the tax code that pressured U.S. companies to divest from South Africa. Several Fortune 500 companies subsequently pulled out of South Africa.http://www.house.gov/rangel/bio.shtml(9)http://www.house.gov/rangel/bio.shtmlIn 1984, Rangel was arrested for protesting outside the South African Assembly and in 2004, he was arrested again, this time outside the Sudanese Embassy.

In 1974, Rangel was a member of the House Judiciary Committee that considered the articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon. That same year, he got a seat on the House Ways and Means Committee, the place where all federal tax legislation starts.

From 1983 until it was disbanded in 1993, Rangel was the chairman of the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control. Based on events he witnessed growing up in Harlem, Rangel remains a forceful voice against drug abuse.

Rangel has a reputation as both an affable fellow and a prickly grudge-holder. Charles B Rangel speaks c Chip Somodevilla Getty Images.jpgThough he defended President Bill Clinton against impeachment charges, he resented the president’s willingness to cooperate with Republicans. While the ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, he participated in his fair share of partisan bickering, especially when now-retired Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) held the gavel. Rangel is also a savvy political insider, and bountiful fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats’ campaign arm. Dismayed by a lack of black diplomats, Rangel created graduate study fellowships for 10 “Rangel Fellows” who were sworn-in to the Foreign Service by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2004.
http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Charles_B._Rangel

[KoKo]

5. MAXINE WATERS..PROGRESSIVE BIO:

Background

One of thirteen children, Waters was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Remus and Velma Lee Carr Moore. She graduated from Vashon High School in St. Louis, and moved with her family to Los Angeles, California, in 1961. She worked in a garment factory and as a telephone operator before being hired as an assistant teacher with the Head Start program at Watts in 1966.

She later enrolled at Los Angeles State College (now California State University, Los Angeles), and graduated with a sociology degree in 1970. In 1973, she went to work as chief deputy to newly-elected City Councilman David S. Cunningham, Jr..

Her husband, Sidney Williams, played professional football in the NFL<4> and is a former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas.
Political career

Waters entered the California State Assembly in 1976. While in the assembly she worked for divestment of state pension funds from any businesses active in South Africa, a country then operating under the policy of apartheid and helped pass legislation within the guidelines of the divestment campaign's Sullivan Principles.<5> She ascended to the position of Democratic Caucus Chair for the Assembly.<6>

Upon the retirement of Augustus F. Hawkins in 1990, Waters was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for California's 29th congressional district with over 79% of the popular vote. She has been re-elected consistently with at least 70% of the popular vote in the California's 35th congressional district after significant parts of the pre-1990 29th California Congressional District were folded into the newly defined 35th California Congressional District when California gained seven additional seats in the House following the 1990 United States Census.)

Waters represented a large part of south-central Los Angeles in Congress and gained national attention in 1992 "when she helped deliver relief supplies in Watts and demanded the resumption of vital services"<7> as the area "caught the nation's attention" with the Rodney King verdict, and the Los Angeles riots of 1992 that followed.<8> Waters described the riots as a rebellion, saying "If you call it a riot it sounds like it was just a bunch of crazy people who went out and did bad things for no reason. I maintain it was somewhat understandable, if not acceptable."<9>

She was chair of the Congressional Black Caucus from 1997-98.

In 2006 Waters was involved in the debate over King Drew Medical Center. After the Los Angeles Times published allegations of nepotism against her in an exposé of the hospital, Waters asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deny a waiver of the crossownership ban, and hence license renewal for KTLA-TV, a station the newspaper owned. She said that "The Los Angeles Times has had an inordinate effect on public opinion and has used it to harm the local community in specific instances." She requested that the FCC force the paper to either sell its station or risk losing that station's broadcast rights.<10> According to Broadcasting & Cable, the challenges raised "the specter of costly legal battles to defend station holdings.... At a minimum, defending against one would cost tens of thousands of dollars in lawyers' fees and probably delay license renewal about three months."<11> Waters' petition was ultimately unsuccessful; the station's license next expires in 2014.<12>

As a Democratic representative in Congress, Waters was a superdelegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She endorsed Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton for the party's nomination in late January 2008, granting the New York Senator nationally-recognized support that some suggested would "make big waves."<13><14> Waters later switched her endorsement to Sen. Barack Obama when his lead in the pledged delegate count became insurmountable on the final day of primary voting.<15><16>

Waters had a confrontation over an earmark in the United States House Committee on Appropriations with fellow Democratic congressman Dave Obey in 2009. The funding request was for a public school employment training center in Los Angeles that was named after her. <17>

In 2010 Waters came under investigation for ethics violations and was accused by a House panel of at least one ethics violation related to her efforts to help OneUnited Bank, where her husband had been a director and in which he had stock holdings, receive Federal aid. She said she planned to fight the charges in a trial.<18>
\Policy positions
Haiti

Waters opposed the 2004 coup d'etat in Haiti and criticized U.S. involvement.<19>
CIA and crack

Following a 1996 San Jose Mercury article alleging the complicity of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the Los Angeles crack epidemic of the 1980s, Waters called for an investigation. Waters questioned whether "U.S.-government paid or organized operatives smuggled, transported and sold it to American citizens."<20> The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it had failed to find any evidence to support the original story.<21> The Los Angeles Times also concluded after its own extensive investigation that the allegations were not supported by evidence.<22> The author of the original story was eventually transferred to a different beat and removed from investigative reporting.<23> Following these post-publication investigations, Waters read into the Congressional Record a memorandum of understanding in which former President Ronald Reagan's CIA director rejected any duty by the CIA to report illegal narcotics trafficking to the Department of Justice.<24><25>
Iraq War]

Waters voted against the Iraq War Resolution, the 2002 resolution that funded and granted Congressional approval to possible military action against the regime of Saddam Hussein.<26> She has remained a consistent critic of the subsequent war and has supported an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq. Waters asserted in 2007 that President George W. Bush was trying to "set up" by continually requesting funds for an "occupation" that is "draining" the country of capital, soldier's lives, and other resources. In particular, she argued that the very economic resources being "wasted" in Iraq were those that might provide universal health care or fully fund President Bush's own "No Child Left Behind" education bill. Additionally, Waters, representing a congressional district whose median income falls far below the national average, argued that patriotism alone had not been the sole driving force for those U.S. service personnel serving in Iraq. Rather, "many of them needed jobs, they needed resources, they needed money, so they're there."<27> In a subsequent floor speech, Waters told her colleagues that Congress, lacking the votes to override the "inevitable Bush veto on any Iraq-related legislation," needed to "better the administration's false rhetoric about the Iraq war" and "educate our constituents the connection between the problems in Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran with the problems we have created in Iraq."<28> A few months prior to these speeches Waters became a cosponsor of the House resolution to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney for making allegedly "false statements" about the war.<29>
United States' petroleum industry

In May 2008, Waters told Shell Oil Company president John Hofmeister at the House Judiciary Committee's Task Force on Competition Policy and Antitrust law that if he did not guarantee reduced gasoline prices in exchange for reduction by Congress of oil drilling restrictions: "...And guess what this liberal will be all about?" Waters asked. "This liberal will be all about socializing, ... basically, taking over and the government running all of your companies."<30><31><32><33><34>
International lending

In August 2008, Waters introduced HR 6796, or the "Stop Very Unscrupulous Loan Transfers from Underprivileged countries from Rich Exploitive Funds Act," also known as the Stop VULTURE Funds Act. This would limit the ability of investors in sovereign debt to use U.S. courts to enforce those instruments against a defaulting country. The bill died in committee. <35>
Caucus memberships

* Chief Deputy Whip
* Founding member and Chair of the Out of Iraq Caucus
* Member of Congressional Progressive Caucus
* Member of Congressional Black Caucus (CBC); past chair of CBC (105th United States Congress)

Other achievements

* Maxine Waters Preparation Center in Watts, California – named after her while she was a member of the California Assembly
* Co-founder of Black Women’s Forum
* Founder of Project Build
* Received the Bruce F. Vento Award from the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty for her work on behalf of homeless persons.

[Uzybone]

6. is there anyone surprised that the M$M is doing this?

[KoKo]

8. I am.... They are both Democrats and Democrats are in Power in the WH and Senate and Congress.

We have the first Black President... Why are both being targeted for much less than Repugs under Bush. And, why NOW when both are running for re-election and are two of the most Powerful voices for Liberal Wing of Dem Party in the House?

[Canuckistanian]

7. You can't help but wonder

Why the TWO major corruption 'scandals' involve black Congress people.

And on such specious grounds.

I'm sensing a "McKinney moment" here.

[MikeW]

10. rather than focusing on race (which we always do)

Thats like asking why cold cash Jefferson is doing 13 years ... because he got CAUGHT!!!

Why rant you more concerned about corruption in D.C.?

or the Dem party shouldn't bother with that at all?

Sorry I have no love for the corrupt ... white, black, asian, hispanic or anyone else.

[quakerboy]

11. What are you doing about all the others then?

Cause if you grab any any 10 random folks in the House, there are at least 2 that have done far more questionable things than either of these two. But the spotlight is not being shined on any of them. I wonder what makes these 2 stand out for attention?

Howsabout you tell me what it is that got them in particular the spotlight. Or why you, as a crusader against corruption, are not taking the others to task.

[MikeW]

14. first of all

The committee tried to negotiate with Rangle ... HE CHOSE to go to trial after refusing their offer.

Thats his choice ... HE's the one that ramped this up not the Ethics C.

[quakerboy]

17. So now it should be on them to Prove

the case, in a timely fashion. Granted, the ethics committee is not a normal court of law, but still, give it a fair hearing.

I am personally not convinced that he is either guilty or innocent at this point. Several of the allegations in particular strike me as BS technicalities added to pad out the case. Others seem to be fairly standard for public persons, and others seem a bit scuzzy but do not immediately strike me as any kind of hanging offense. If they are all even true. In the mean time, I happen to solidly agree with Wrangle on one point. Holding this out, him in limbo waiting for them to deal with it is nothing more than politics.

I see elected persons destroying the careers of others and walking away with the prize. I see elected officials scamming government programs to fill their pockets. I see elected officials creating laws specifically designed to bilk the tax payer for large amounts of cash that go to selected companies with close ties. I see elected officials stealing labor and materials to build their own tundra houses. I see elected officials getting rich based on contracts awarded to previously failing companies that they happen to own, at the cost of great numbers of lives.

There's corruption, and there's questionable dealings. When your looking at all that, its a bit hard to get excited about one politician using official letter head to try to help a school that happens to bear his name. Ya know what I mean? I'm guessing no, you prefer to deal harshly with the congressman from NY before he is convicted of anything, and give the others a pass because they happened to avoid any official censure.

[Canuckistanian]

13. And what about Ensign?

Why didn't HE "get caught" by buying off his mistress's family? Or how about Sen. Coburn for aiding and abetting him?

Or Sen. Vitter for engaging in an illegal act, just as Eliot Spitzer was?

"Justice" is selective in America. It only seems to target Dems.

[MikeW]

15. and you forgot to mention

Delay
Ney
Foley
Randy "Duke" Cunningham
Stevens

and many others over the years.

[Canuckistanian]

16. Well, except for Ney and Cunningham, you're right

The rest got off scot free.

[KoKo]

18. Neither of these Dem Congressmen were found with Stash of Cash in their Freezer

and the case is so think with both of them that they will be seen as VICTIMS of some witch hunt by those who want them to relinquish their powerful PROGRESSIVE VOTES in the HOUSE.

Neither Waters nor Rangel come up to the "Stash in the Freezer" of Jefferson nor to the REPUBLICAN CORRUPTION of the Senators and House Members and Bush Himself who did ILLEGAL BRIBES, COLLUSION WITH LOBBYISTS and in BUSH II's CASE. CRIME AGAINST AMERICA WITH STOLEN ELECTION AND "UNDECLARED WAR" against TWO SOVEREIGN NATIONS...and the REST OF THE BUSH II CRIMES against HUMANITY!

Who is worse? Check Rangel and Water's Voting Records. BOTH VOTE DEM around 98% all their lives...and then look at the DINO SENATORS AND HOUSE MEMBERS who VOTE REPUG...95% of the Time...

Tell me WHO IS BEING SCAPEGOATED HERE!

[enough]

9. un-reccers at work here too (nt)

[opihimoimoi]

12. Truthy and Clarity both demand an honest open explanation, thru a trial if it need be

i heard the term used...DRAINING THE SWAMP

if it hurts...so be it....

the cleansed plate is required