Within the last few weeks, Representative Charlie Rangel (D-NY) has been famously stung for ethics violations. His wrong doings earned him a Congressional reprimand. As his ordeal wore on, Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) has also been called out for conflicts of interest. She is pursuing a speedy hearing to clear her name.
Conflicts of interest alleged against Waters
Maxine Waters, a 10-term representative from California, was charged with ethics violations by the House of Representatives today. The charges were announced the previous week. Her husband owns stock in OneUnited, as outlined by USA Today, an online financial institution which Representative Waters allegedly arranged special treatment for. The financial institution received $ 12 million in bailout funds. Among the charges are that she arranged for the bank’s representatives to be present at a meeting with Treasury Department officials to get bailout cash. Mikael Moore, her chief of staff, was allegedly not informed to steer clear of the conflict of interest. Moore is also her grandson.
Hard to Rangel proof of innocence
After being indicted for 13 counts of ethics violations, Representative Charlie Rangel received only a reprimand. The New York Times reports the charges incorporated improper soliciting for donations, and falsifying income tax returns by not reporting large portions of income and assets. The investigation has been going on for over two years. The House of Representatives and the Senate have protocols for expulsion or censure of members, but are rarely used. The last expelled Representative was James Trafficant, and no Representative has been censured since 1983. Censures in the Senate are rare also, as only four have taken place since 1950, one of which was Thomas Dodd, father of current Senator Chris Dodd.
Greater Standards
Representative Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ), was reported as saying that if Rangel was guilty, he should quit. She also reported that members of Congress needed to hold themselves to higher standards, including the law applies to elected officials just as much as to citizens.
Discover more information on this subject
nytimes.com/2010/07/31/nyregion/31rangel.html?_r=1 and scp=8 and sq= and st=nyt
content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2010/08/maxine-water-ethics-charge/1
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