Democrats Use Nuclear Option On Obamacare

Sneaky? Yes
Underhanded? Of Course
Dirty Pool? You Bet
Does any of this bother the Democrats? Fat Chance

House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) held a hearing this morning to certify that H.R. 3200 — the main House Obamacare bill which was the subject of all the town hall rage in August — has met all requirements to pass as a “budget reconciliation” measure.

Under reconciliation, the bill can be passed by a simple majority vote in the Senate — just 51 votes — and will be given preferential treatment on the House floor as well. The Dems have apparently invoked the “nuclear option” to shut out Republicans and ensure the bill is passed before the end of the year.

The bill certified for “reconciliation” is the Ways & Means version of H.R. 3200 that was passed out of committee before the August break, and before it was read aloud at town hall meetings across the country and blasted…Read the rest of this entry

The Rangel Rule Versus The Wilson Rebuke

Today’s focus will be a study of hypocrisy.

We will try and determine what is the most serious offense, a Republican Congressman blurting out “You Lie” during a speech given by the President, or a high-ranking Democrat member of Congress violating federal law.

If you had missed Congressman Joe Wilson shouting out “You Lie” during the President’s address to Congress, and simply read the reactions to it, you would have thought that Wilson had drop-kicked a puppy in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Former President Jimmy Carter declared the Wilson’s comment was based on racism.

Former RINO and now-offical Democrat Senator Arlen Spector had this to say via Twitter:
“There ought to be a reprimand or censure of Rep. Joe Wilson to discourage that kind of conduct in the future.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for a “resolution of disaproval” to be brought to the House floor.

Senator Claire McCaskill said Wilson behaved like a jerk.

Unofficial Democrat national security issues spokesman retired Major General Paul Eaton said Wilson (a retired Colonel) may have violated military codes of conduct.
(How far of a reach is that?)

Wilson apologized to President Obama, the President accepted and said let’s move on.

However, that didn’t satisfy some folks.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn had this to say about Joe Wilson’s apology to President Obama:

“He has no remorse whatsoever, so his words have very little meaning.”

So Wilson’s apology is good enough for the President Of The United States.

But not good enough for Congress.

I suppose words having meaning only applies to conservatives.

Because there is one undeniable truth about liberals.

When the tables are turned, they put on their dark glasses.

Little if anything was said about Hillary Clinton’s outright lies about being under sniper fire in Bosnia.

No one called out Harry Reid for calling George Bush a liar.

None called for the censure of John Kerry when he called troops serving in Iraq “stupid.”

You would think that at least one Democrat would have chastised Hillary Clinton for the televised images of her making faces like she was giving birth to a racoon during a post-9-11 George Bush speech.

However, how do Democrats react when it is one of their own under the spotlight?

House Ways And Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel didn’t shout out anything during the President’s speech, so why do I bring him up? What did he do?

Well, it’s not what he did, it’s what he failed to do:

Report the sale on his tax returns of a home he once owned on Colorado Avenue in Washington.
Unlawfully claimed a “homestead” exemption on the above-named residence in order to avoid paying property taxes.

Again in violation of the law, claimed the same “homestead” exemption on four rent-controlled apartments he owns in Harlem.
In Rangel’s defense, he did need to keep his reported income below $175,000 so he would be considered a “hardship” case for the purposes of rent control.
He used one of the apartments as an office in violation of rent-control rules.

Violated House ethics rules when he failed to disclose an interest-free loan he received when he purchased a villa in the Dominican Republic.

Perhaps that is why his tax returns didn’t show the $75,000 in rental income he has made from this villa.

Of course, Rangel passes all of these things (and others I won’t list in the hopes of keeping this brief) as mere oversights.

You would think that the man who oversees writing tax policy for the entire country might pay a little more attention to his tax return.

However, again in Rangel’s defense, maybe he is trying to mend his ways.
He recently filed an amendement to his 2007 financial dislosure statement to add on some minor things he had overlooked.
Among them are:
A quarter of a million dollar account he has at the Congressional Federal Credit Union.
Large blocks of stock he holds in Pepsico, as well as some fast food giants.
$250,000 in a real estate investment account.

Give Rangel a break.
Anyone could forget over a half a million dollars in assets.

Hell, I’d be thrilled to have a half a million dollars in assets.

But enough about me.

I was curious to see if Democrats would treat the tax evasion and ethical violations of Charlie Rangel as sternly as they did the remarks of Joe Wilson.

Wold Rangel be viewed as the Democrat version of the anti-Christ?

Well, here are some of the reactions to Rangel’s lawbreaking:

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) “He’s done a great job as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and throughout his 30 years in Congress.”

Nancy Pelosi, when asked if Rangel should step down while the House ethics committee investigated his actions said:
“I do not think he should step aside.”

Rep. Edolphus Towns stated “I would encourage people to look at the whole Rangel.”

Despite spending the better part of an entire day trying to find a statement from just one Democrat who had anything even resembling a claim that Rangel should be held accountable for his actions (or his lack of action) I was unable to come up with anything.

Joe Wilson, on the other hand, who did not break one single federal law, nor violate any Congressional ethics, might as well have set a kitten on fire, judging by the reaction of the Democrats.

However, in the spirit of fairness, we must report that there was a Republican reaction to Rangel’s antics.

Knowing that it would never pass, but probably done as a measn of spotlighting Rangel’s mis-deeds, Rep. John Carter of Texas introduced House Resolution 735, titled as the Rangel Rule.
The text of the bill reads as follows:

“Any individual who is a citizen of the United States and who writes “Rangel Rule” at the top of the first page of the return of tax imposed by Chapter 1 for any taxable year shall be exempt from any requirement to pay interest, and from any penalty, assition to tax, or additional amount, with respect to such return.”

That seems more than fair.

If you leave something out when you file your tax return, you simply write “Rangel Rule” at the top of the form, and you are exempt from any penalties or interest.

Perhaps even immune from any criminal charges.

Just like Charles Rangel, or for that matter, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner.

And who knows, perhaps such an action will make you so (in)famous that someone will write a song about you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UksfV5V7R20&feature=player_embedded