The party of ethics and probity appears to be having a little
trouble with Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the Ways and Means
Committee. He just can't seem to get his story
straight.
Reports the New York Times:
On April 21, 2008, Representative Charles B.
Rangel met with officials of the American
International Group, the now-troubled insurance giant, to
ask for a donation to a school of public service that City
College of New York was building in his honor.
Mr. Rangel had already helped secure a $5 million pledge for
the project from a foundation controlled by Maurice R.
Greenberg, one of the company's largest shareholders and
its former chief executive. And C.C.N.Y. officials, according
to the school's own records, had high hopes for A.I.G. - a
donation of perhaps as much as $10 million.
The company has never made a contribution. But less than a
month after Mr. Rangel met with its officials, the company
turned to the congressman for help: A senior A.I.G. executive
who had attended the fund-raising meeting wrote a letter
directly to Mr. Rangel, chairman of the powerful House Ways and
Means Committee, urging him to support a provision of a tax
bill that would save A.I.G. millions of dollars a year,
according to Joseph M. Norton, a company spokesman.
Mr. Rangel's exchange with A.I.G. last spring appears to be at
odds with the public statements he has made since his
fund-raising for the school became an issue. When his approach
to A.I.G. was first reported in The Washington Post in July,
Mr. Rangel said that he could not recall any issues his
committee might have considered in which A.I.G. had an
interest.
"I can't think of one piece of legislation that impacts them,
and there has never been a time that they've raised any
legislation to me," the paper quoted Mr. Rangel as saying.
Indeed, in Mr. Rangel's formal submission to the House ethics
committee, asking it to review his use of Congressional
stationery in soliciting money for the school, he wrote, "So
far as I am aware, none of those whom I wrote had any pending
requests into my office, lobbied me regarding any legislation
before my committee, or asked me for assistance on legislation
in which they had a special interest."
He's a problem for the House Democratic caucus. But the
biggest controversy remains on the Senate side. Now the
Illinois legislature is attempting to speed up the impeachment of
Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But getting rid of him cannot
retrospectively void his appointment of Roland Burris to fill
Barack Obama's old Senate seat. So will the Senate
leadership really use armed guards to bar Burris from
entering the chamber? Not all Democrats are enthused about
this approach. And it appears that Sen. Harry Reid might
not be acting out of the purest of motives.
Reports the Times:
Some highly placed Democrats have begun to question privately
why Mr. Burris is being denied the seat if there are no
problems with him personally. They said Democrats could dispose
of the issue - and gain a reliable Democratic vote in the
process - by acceding to the appointment if it met all legal
requirements.
But the Senate's leadership remains united in barring Mr.
Burris, and hopes to delay settling the matter until the
Illinois legislature can impeach the governor and allow a new
appointment to be made.
Mr. Blagojevich seemed on Friday to try to raise questions
about the motives of Senate leaders' efforts to block Mr.
Burris, disclosing for the first time that Senator Harry Reid, the
majority leader, had - before Mr. Blagojevich's arrest on Dec.
9 - called the governor to talk about whom he was considering
appointing to fill Mr. Obama's seat.
Lucio Guerrero, a spokesman for Mr. Blagojevich, said that Mr.
Reid called on Dec. 3 to discuss possible appointees, and
expressed concerns that some being considered might not be able
to win re-election when Mr. Obama's Senate term ended in two
years. Mr. Burris was never mentioned in the conversation, Mr.
Guerrero said.
"I think the governor thinks that it shows that Harry Reid may
have a horse in this race, and it's not Roland Burris," Mr.
Guerrero said.
The fun continues!
