In the past few weeks, Representative Charlie Rangel (D-NY) was charged with ethics violations by the House of Representatives. His misconduct earned him a Congressional reprimand. Just lately, Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) has also been indicted by Congress for conflicts of interests. She has asked for a fast process, to clear her name as soon as possible.
Conflicts of interest alleged against Waters
Charges of ethics violations are brought by the House against 10 term Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA). The charges were announced over a week ago. Her husband owns stock in OneUnited, as outlined by USA Today, an online financial institution which Representative Waters allegedly arranged special treatment for. The bank received $ 12 million in bailout funding. Allegedly, she arranged for the bank’s representatives to be in a meeting with officials from the Treasury, to get a crack at bailout money. Mikael Moore, her chief of staff, was allegedly not informed to steer clear of the conflict of interest. Moore, as luck would have it, is also her grandson.
Hard to Rangel proof of innocence
Representative Charlie Rangel (D-NY) received a reprimand for 13 counts of ethics violations. According to the New York Times, charges integrated improper solicitation of donations, and omitting assets and income on tax returns. The investigation has been ongoing for two years. The House and Senate have procedures for censuring or expelling members, but it’s not used often. The last expelled Representative was James Trafficant, and no Representative has been censured since 1983. Senate censures are also rare; only four Senators have been censured since 1950, one of whom was Thomas J. Dodd, father of current Senator Chris Dodd.
Greater Standards
Representative Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ), was quoted as saying that if Rangel was guilty, he should quit. She also stated that members of Congress needed to hold themselves to higher standards, including the law applies to elected officials just as much as to citizens.
Find 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
