News Copy, New York

Charlie Rangel Uses His Last "Get Out Of Jail Free" Card: New York Democrat Faces Removal As Committee Chair

New York Congressman Charles Rangel faces possible removal as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means committee, Politico reported.

After last week's "admonishment" by the House ethics committee, Rangel can't take the hint and resign.

The GOP resolution will call for the Manhattan lawmaker to release his tax returns.

Times Editorial:

Relieve the Chairman of His Gavel

The fat (gray) lady has sung.

The National Legal and Policy Center had photos of Rangel's tropical junket.

Go to Congress.  Get free passage to the Caribbean.  Everyone else pays cash.

Take a close look at the photos.  Charlie must forgotten to bring his glasses.

Congressional Quarterly (CQ) used the "race" word to characterize the troubles in New York.

It's unfair to generalize that Governor David Paterson, Congressman Gregory Meeks, former Congressman Floyd Flake, State Senate President Pro Tem Malcolm Smith and now Chairman Rangel all have something in common -- except that they are all suspected of unethical activity.   One race has no monopoly on corruption in New York.

CQ lamented Rangel's fall from grace.

"As the drip, drip, drip of ethical questions pools as high as Rangel’s chest, it is a sad time for the congressman and his legion of admirers, at home and on Capitol Hill. Rangel may or may not retain his gavel at the Ways and Means Committee. He may or may not be able to limp to re-election this fall. But his reputation is forever damaged, his ability to be a major player in the final days of the health care overhaul debate, gone."

Self-inflicted wounds.  This has been drawn and quartered for 18 months.

Meanwhile, Nobel Laureate and liberal logician Paul Krugman found himelf all by himself on ABC's "This Week In Washington" this past Sunday -- in making the case that Rangel hasn't really done anything wrong (video and transcript comes courtesy of Newsbusters).

"I'm unhappy with this," he said. "I wish Rangel would go away, but it's, it really has no national significance."

 Of course, this is the same "genius" who is regularly unhappy that Congress hasn't spent more money and raised taxes to cure America of its recession.

As The New York Times observed, Rangel's usual strategy to berate his contemporaries and distract away from any wrongdoing points to a deeper problem. 

"The moment was characteristic of Mr. Rangel’s arrogance throughout the investigation, which continues into more serious allegations about his official behavior."

On ABC's "This Week In Washington" Roundtable, there was disgust for Rangel's lack of accountability.

The New York Post called Congressman Rangel "Charlie the coward" for passing the blame for a "quid pro quo" off to his staff. 

"... What other term is appropriate when a 79-year-old political veteran, the dean of the New York delegation and chairman of one of the most powerful panels on Capitol Hill, ducks responsibility for a pretty obvious personal ethical lapse by throwing his staff under the bus?"

The Post reported Rangel pretending to have no knowledge that corporations paid up to $50,000 for five members of the Black Congressional to attend a sun-drenched lobbying junket in a lavish Caribbean setting.

Pamela Geller of the Atlas Shrugs had more details on what the Chicago Tribune called "The Rangel Swamp" -- and had video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi trying to wish it all away.

Geller pulled no punches as she noted how rare it us when the fourth estate -- from the right to the left -- reads the riot act to a Democrat.

"It's not enough to oust a thief, a tax cheat, and racketeer from public office and all committee seats and chairs. Any public official who abuses his offices, breaks the law, and violates the public trust should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Rangel must go to jail. Ripping off the public must be punished as harshly as the law allows, to discourage thieves, pigs, scoundrels, commies from running."

The Chicago Tribune explained that it is simple enough why Rangel can't be believed.

"You would have thought the signs and materials from Citigroup, Pfizer, American Airlines, AT&T, Verizon, Macy's and IBM plastered around the 2008 conference in St. Maarten would have provided a clue that corporate money was involved. But apparently Rangel was clueless. His response to the ethics committee's admonishment? He criticized the committee and blamed his staff. "Common sense dictates that members of Congress should not be held responsible for what could be the wrongdoing or mistakes or errors of staff," he said. What a stand-up guy."

The Washington Post said the resolution to have Rangel removed as chairman of Ways and Means will fail because "most of the chamber's 254 Democrats are not yet ready to dump Rangel."

... But the number of Democratic defections could affect how Pelosi and other party leaders evaluate the controversy, which has being going on for more than 18 months. One top party aide said there was "growing unrest" among members of Congress elected in 2006 and 2008, many of whom ran on anti-corruption platforms.

The Chicago Tribune further noted the "glacial" pace his contemporaries in Congress took investigating far more serious charges:

"... His belated financial disclosure of up to $1 million in financial assets, tens of thousands of dollars in municipal bonds and up to $100,000 in rent from a New York apartment building; using his congressional letterhead to solicit money for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York; and illegally turning one of his four rent-controlled apartments in New York into a campaign office."

The Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service?

Not bad for the man who desposed the last emperor of Harlem, Adam Clayton Powell.

Some Republicans Digging In For Fight On Jobs Bill: Bunning Battling Reid On Extending Unemployment Benefits

Kentucky U.S. Senator Jim Bunning, a Republican once known for spotting his pitches flawlessly as a major league baseball player, now is crossing swords with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on extending unemployment benefits.

ABC News -- like most of the mainstream media -- will try to frame Bunning as the bad guy, even a short-tempered bad guy as this video shows, but the Republican's filibuster has people talking.

The Huffington Post headline: Bunning Objects TO Extending Unemployment Insurance AGAIN misses the point.

There is a line in the sand that conservative reformers and Tea Party activists want respected.  It was Scott Brown who missed that point last week.  Bunning at least knows a sneaky bit of budget appropriation when he sees it.

The Hill noted that "top" Democats are looking to "shame" the retiring Bunning over being the last angry man refusing to allow the usual budget chicanery in Congress.

Bunning first wants to know where the money is coming from.  Second, he wants it taken out of stimulus monies.

Daily Kos had this video of Bunning crossing swords with Democrats on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

Bunning looks like he's having.  So are a lot of Americans watching him.

White House officials already are using Department of Transportation (DOT) surrogates to scold Bunning for stopping important construction projects around the country, CNN reported.

It's clear that Bunning won't be blinking anytime soon.

Sadly, FOX News explained that Harry Reid will just go right around the smaller temporary $10 billion bill Bunning is filibustering by presenting a much-larger $100 billlion version.

.

Massachusetts Senate Race Has Vindicated The National Tea Party Movement

Polls in Massachusetts are open.

When the headlines read "Massachusetts Senate race comes down to the wire" (Los Angeles Times) or "Turnout Is Key in Massachusetts battle" (Wall Street Journal), are they setting lower expectations or sizing up what could be a much closer race?

Democrats have unions and special interest groups making phone calls.  Republicans have volunteers and Tea Party activists making cell phone calls and e-mailing from throughout the nation.

What we're seeing is a dress rehearsal for mid-term elections.

But something else is being played out here that the mainstream media must start acknowledging.

The Washington Post and many other news outlets wanted to imagine that only 30,000 Americans converged on our nation's capitol for the 9-12 rally last year.  Most who attended (and I was one of them) observed the lawns outside Congress to be overflowing into the side streets.  There were as many people in the Mall as had stood in the freezing cold for President Barack Obama's Inauguration.

Over a million people came to Washington, D.C. on September 12, 2009 -- but the mainstream media didn't want to believe it.

People are making phone calls for Scott Brown.  The world has changed.  The average American can rally for aany candidate in the continental United States; with your cell phone, with your e-mails, blogs and social networking tools that have no limits.

Democrats are boasting about the number of volunteers doubling for Coakley, "3,500 supporters" reaching out to voters.  The best the unions and special interest groups can do is 500,000 "voter contacts" that include calls and email solicitations.

It's a safe estimate that Scott Brown likely has a few million Tea Party activists and many more new Republican volunteers making a thousand times more e-mails and phone calls than Democrats,

This is what happens when the media pretends a movement is not there -- and worse -- pretends that a movement is not valid.

Forget about the polls for a moment.  Forget about the outcome, especially since the sobering reality is that Democrats have more prime voters that they can pull to the polls than Republicans in Massachusetts.

The irony, as USA Today reported, might be the independents in "liberal" Massachusetts.

"Despite the state's "blue" reputation, more than half of Massachusetts voters — or 2.1 million people — are not affiliated with a political party, according to state registration figures. Among voters who are enrolled in a party, Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 3-to-1 ratio."

The story is no longer the political consultants or party leaders.  Frankly, the gathering chorus of those "mad as hell" and not taking it anymore could just as easily topple establishment Republicans as the parrots in the House majority.

Today is vindication for the average American.  This is "A Message From the Kitchen" (New York Times).

Now just pray it all doesn't peak too soon.

Massachusetts Senate Race Has Vindicated The National Tea Party Movement

Polls in Massachusetts are open.

When the headlines read "Massachusetts Senate race comes down to the wire" (Los Angeles Times) or "Turnout Is Key in Massachusetts battle" (Wall Street Journal), are they setting lower expectations or sizing up what could be a much closer race?

Democrats have unions and special interest groups making phone calls.  Republicans have volunteers and Tea Party activists making cell phone calls and e-mailing from throughout the nation.

What we're seeing is a dress rehearsal for mid-term elections.

But something else is being played out here that the mainstream media must start acknowledging.

The Washington Post and many other news outlets wanted to imagine that only 30,000 Americans converged on our nation's capitol for the 9-12 rally last year.  Most who attended (and I was one of them) observed the lawns outside Congress to be overflowing into the side streets.  There were as many people in the Mall as had stood in the freezing cold for President Barack Obama's Inauguration.

Over a million people came to Washington, D.C. on September 12, 2009 -- but the mainstream media didn't want to believe it.

People are making phone calls for Scott Brown.  The world has changed.  The average American can rally for aany candidate in the continental United States; with your cell phone, with your e-mails, blogs and social networking tools that have no limits.

Democrats are boasting about the number of volunteers doubling for Coakley, "3,500 supporters" reaching out to voters.  The best the unions and special interest groups can do is 500,000 "voter contacts" that include calls and email solicitations.

It's a safe estimate that Scott Brown likely has a few million Tea Party activists and many more new Republican volunteers making a thousand times more e-mails and phone calls than Democrats,

This is what happens when the media pretends a movement is not there -- and worse -- pretends that a movement is not valid.

Forget about the polls for a moment.  Forget about the outcome, especially since the sobering reality is that Democrats have more prime voters that they can pull to the polls than Republicans in Massachusetts.

The irony, as USA Today reported, might be the independents in "liberal" Massachusetts.

"Despite the state's "blue" reputation, more than half of Massachusetts voters — or 2.1 million people — are not affiliated with a political party, according to state registration figures. Among voters who are enrolled in a party, Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 3-to-1 ratio."

The story is no longer the political consultants or party leaders.  Frankly, the gathering chorus of those "mad as hell" and not taking it anymore could just as easily topple establishment Republicans as the parrots in the House majority.

Today is vindication for the average American.  This is "A Message From the Kitchen" (New York Times).

Now just pray it all doesn't peak too soon.

Newsweek’s Evan Thomas: Obama Is ‘Sort of God’

"I mean in a way Obama’s standing above the country, above – above the world,

he’s sort of God."

Evan Thomas, Newsweek

Hardball's Chris Matthews continued the media's infatuation with Barack Obama by allowing Newsweek's Evan Thomas to declare, "He's sort of God."

Newsbusters caught Thomas reacting to a preceding monologue in which Matthews praised Obama’s speech in Cairo:

"I think the President's speech yesterday was the reason we Americans elected him. It was grand. It was positive. Hopeful...But what I liked about the President's speech in Cairo was that it showed a complete humility...The question now is whether the President we elected and spoke for us so grandly yesterday can carry out the great vision he gave us and to the world."

Powerline, who acknowledged the same "crush" by journalists. covered a parody by National Review of another Newsweek cover fawning over Obama.

Rising Interest on Nations’ Debts May Sap World Growth: New York Times

The New York Times finally starting using a calculator.

Of course any nation's debt will sap economic growth.

All of a sudden, journalists discover capitalism?

About That Weapons Grade Plutonium You're Looking For: Here's The List

The United States Government accidently released detailed information about hundreds of the nation’s civilian nuclear sites and programs, including maps showing the precise locations of stockpiles of fuel for nuclear weapons.

Why can't some bureaucrats find a new hobby?

By the way, our tax dollars actually paid the salaries of those pencil sharpeners who compiled and published this list of hot spots.

Reagan's City On The Hill Left Behind By Obama's City On The Sand Speech

Obama's "City On The Sand" speech in Cairo is the parallel universe of the late Ronald Reagan's "Shining city on the hill" metaphor.

Obama has forgotten that he is President of the United States.  Maybe he wants to move to Europe after he is defeated in 2012.

Now that Barack Obama has declared "peace in our time" and done his imitation of Neville Chamberlain, it's time to remind the White House that there still is a cross-section of the Arab world not cooperating with the war on terrorism.  They weren't cooperating with President George W. Bush either but at least the last occupant of the White House knew an enemy when he saw one.

This is appeasement we witnessed by President Obama.

Not all Muslims are bad Muslims, obviously. To be fair, there are Islamic-Americans who have chosen to live in the United States -- and who pledge their loyalty to our flag -- but one wonders if Barack Obama had forgotten where he was sitting when he gave this speech.  Also, there are plenty of Arabs with us -- perhaps even in Cairo -- but the genesis of violent Islamic fundamentalism fed out of Cairo's academic and socialist cauldron.

"I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles – principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings."

Meant well but entirely unrealistic given the geo-political threats staring him down at the moment.

Josh Greenman of the New York Daily News acknowledged that Obama's speeches are a mile long and an inch thick:

"The fast-growing genre of Obama healing speeches are masterpieces of analysis. They are also ultimately unimaginative in their policy prescriptions. They say so much that, in at least one sense, they say little: They leave one without what some annoyingly call a "takeaway," beyond the need for further conversation. The listener winds up thinking he understands the world better - but is uncertain how to convert that enlightenment into progress."

We had eight years of W's fast good syntax.  Now we're drunk on the verbose.

Palin Leads All Republicans For 2012: Zogby Finds Jindal Right Behind Romney

Candidate	Republicans	All Voters
Palin	24.4%	13.4%
Romney	18.1%	13.7%
Jindal	15.6%	12.5%
Huckabee	9.7%	8.0%
Giuliani	4.9%	5.0%
Paul	2.9%	7.4%
Someone Else	8.2%	20.3%
Not Sure	16.2%	19.7%

I guess this means that this particularly conservative Republican was not the drag on the ticket everyone wanted to paint her.

"Among Republicans, she gets the support of 30% of Born-Again Christians, 32% of weekly churchgoers, 34% of National Rifle Association members, 28% of current gun owners and 29% of self-identified conservatives.  More GOP support comes from 32% of blue collar workers, 30% who shop weekly at Wal-Mart, 28% of NASCAR fans and 25% of both those with children under 17 and those with family members in the military…"

28 percent of NASCAR fans ... heh.

More Hot Air:  Zogby on 2012: Palin leads among Republicans, Romney leads among all voters

But Mitt Romney leads among "all voters"--

-- Bobby Jindal doesn't look half bad either, a change from a Gallup Poll a week earlier.

Gotta love a guy named Bobby.

Zogby also found that "someone else" and "not sure" account for 40 percent.

Gallup: 67 percent of Republicans ...

... Huckabee and Romney have to be thinking the political floor just collapsed right from under them.

Too soon, too much but Palin's not going away.

The Curious Mr. Franken: Voter Fraud Suspected In Minnesota

This story about the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota has taken a week or more to float, like a rotting corpse, to the surface of the news cycle.

Democrat Al Franken keeps accumulating found votes to whittle down Republican Norm Coleman's lead, by a unanimous margin.  So is the game now to claim all those votes being found for him after the election are disenfranchised citizens?

Doesn't strike me as very honest but let's see how this game of monopoly plays itself out.

Up to now, Franken has enjoyed a novice's entry into the body politic.  Now it's about to get decidedly nasty, possibly worse than Florida in 2002 from a legal angle.

The curious Mr. Franken is just letting it all be, as registration questions start to haunt his vote count.

News Hounds tore down FOX News, as usual, but take a look at Sean Hannity's broadcast with Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

32 votes found in a trunk.  246 votes in another election precinct lost, then found.  Another 100 votes, all for Franken.  No votes for Coleman.  That's statistically impossible.

The  Minneapolis Star Tribune called the Coleman vs. Frank re-count:  The Rematch

"If you can count, we need you in Minnesota by November 16 for training,'' hollered an e-mail flyer that featured a winking Sarah Palin and was sent to party activists nationwide by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

The Star Tribune also had observations by Jeff Davis of the Minnesota Majority on its State's registration process -- and something called "vouching":

"Vouching is provision in Minnesota law that allows a person to register on Election Day simply by having someone from the precinct confirm his or her identity. I watched as the individual filled out a paper registration card and was immediately provided with a ballot. There was no verification by election officials that the information on the registration card was, in fact, accurate."

Oh boy ...

So it's harder to register a canoe in Minnesota than it is to "vouch" for someone's identity to vote?

What would the old Al Franken have done?