In general it is not my practice to write about Congressmen from other states, believing as I do that the citizens of a state should be able to elect any damned fool Congressman they care to. However, I think that Democrats would do well to heed Ruth Marcus’s concerns:
Rangel was wrist-slapped because the committee determined that he should have known his Caribbean jaunts with other members of the Congressional Black Caucus were underwritten by corporations, in violation of House rules. The New York Democrat’s most serious ethics problems, trifles such as failing to declare income on taxes and financial disclosure forms, are still — what a surprise! — under review by the committee.
But the Rangel-centric nature of the news coverage obscured the bigger story: the ethics committee’s role as enabler of ethical violations. Remember the furor over lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the lavish golfing trips he furnished for lawmakers? In response to that scandal, Congress tightened its ethics rules in 2007. It barred lawmakers from accepting free travel lasting more than a day if corporations that retain lobbyists underwrite any part of the trip.
It’s a cruel world. When you run on a reform platform, people, foolishly, actually expect you to reform. Revealing that you meant that you wanted to reform the other guy probably won’t satisfy them.
