The Game Sure Seems Rigged

Rep. Charles Rangel, who is in charge of Congressional oversight of the U.S. tax code thanks to his position as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, is scheduled to hold press conference today to, in the words of The Wall Street Journal “respond to questions raised in recent weeks about his compliance with congressional disclosure rules and his tax returns.”

Rangel has already said he didn’t report on his taxes more than $75,000 in rental income on a resort villa he owned in the Dominican Republic. And the Journal notes “documents released on Rep. Rangel's behalf also showed he paid no interest for a mortgage used to purchase the beach property.”

“The resort snafu came on the heels of questions raised earlier this summer in news reports, which said Rep. Rangel and his family lived in what used to be four rent-stabilized apartments in New York. One of the apartments was used as a campaign office, which Rep. Rangel later said he would surrender in order to comply with state regulations.”

Maybe you and I can ask for “the Rangel treatment” the next time the IRS has a question about our tax returns.