If you have solid tips, news or documents on potential ethical violations or abuses of power, we want to know. Send us your suggestions. 
Unfortunately I believe that we are limited in what we can focus on. I think that if we proceed with the partisan sideshow of prosecuting Bush admin. officials, healthcare will get lost in the brouhaha.
The Washington Post's permanent investigative unit was set up in 1982 under Bob Woodward.
A Congressman Solicits Money For His Pet Project
(Updated to reflect Rangel announcing plans to move his Harlem campaign office)
A week ago, The New York Times' David Kocieniewski wrote how House Ways & Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) has been renting four pricey apartments in a Harlem highrise for below market price, an arrangement that might have violated state and city housing regulations.
Today, The Post's Christopher Lee reports that Rangel, 78, has penned letters on congressional stationary to companies with business before his committee and to corporate and foundation leaders to ask for contributions to the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York, a project that caused controversy last year when he successfully pushed for a $1.9 million congressional earmark to help launch it. Read one of the letters.
Rangel later decided to move his campaign office out of one of the four rent-stabilized apartments he leases, his spokesman told The Times on Monday. The spokesman, Emile Milne, would not elaborate on the decision. "Mr. Rangel has indicated that he is not willing to say any more," he said.
By Derek Kravitz |
July 15, 2008; 8:43 AM ET
Previous: 'Enough to Show That They're Serious' |
Next: City Housing Inspectors Fired
Posted by: Linda Eastman | July 15, 2008 12:21 PM
Yet another "shake down, take down" corrupt Pol. These guys should not only be voted out of office but prosecuted.
Posted by: GaryB | July 15, 2008 12:34 PM
Another demo-crap like Todd (low interest rate) Jefferson "The 90,000 Freezer Man" The Jefferson Family (Steal from Charities)
Posted by: clearvoice | July 15, 2008 1:25 PM
This is pure REPUBLICAN B.S. ... this is an swiftboat maneuver of the first order..
FU all -- i'm not from NY or NYC... but I see how Rangel bleeds all over the House of Representatives and Washington for the citizens of NYC and NY -- not to mention all the poor and middle class folks across the country...
I say to all of you who are perpetuating this B.S.
If you're gonna perpetuate this kind of low life Republican sht slinging ... keep your pieholes shut... we don't want to here FOX NOISE here.
Posted by: frank | July 15, 2008 10:29 PM
Statement on Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service from The City College of New York
July 15, 2008
The City College of New York is proud to house the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service, named after one of America's most distinguished public servants. The Center will help prepare students in our new bachelors and masters programs in public administration - particularly underrepresented minority students - for leadership positions in public service. It will enrich their preparation by providing scholarship, internship and research opportunities as well as hosting conferences on best practices in bring underrepresented groups into public service and other topics.
The Charles B. Rangel Library, centered on Congressman Rangel's archives from more than 40 years in public service, will be an important center for scholarship. In the long tradition of university centers like the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at The University of Michigan, the Rangel Center will provide our students with an important, inspirational role model and serve as a national center for promoting greater diversity in public service.
List Schools of Public Affairs and Other Facilities at Colleges and Universities Named for Elected Officials, by State
Arkansas
Clinton School of Public Service, University of Arkansas
California
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, University of California Los Angeles
Florida
Reuben O'D. Askew School of Public Policy, Florida State University
Claude Pepper Center for Intercultural Dialogue, Florida State University
Maine
Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine
Massachusetts
John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Tip O'Neill Library, Boston College
Michigan
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, The University of Michigan
Missouri
Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs, University of Missouri, Columbia
New Jersey
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
New York
Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University
The Rockefeller Center of Public Affairs, SUNY Albany
Joseph L. Bruno Stadium, Hudson Valley Community College
Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium, SUNY Stony Brook
Ohio
The John Glenn School of Public Affairs, The Ohio State University
Pennsylvania
H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University
South Carolina
Strom Thurmond Institute of Government and Public Affairs, Clemson University
Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center, University of South Carolina
Texas
Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas, Austin
West Virginia
Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University
Robert C. Byrd Center for Rural Health, Marshall University
Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies, Shepherd University
Sources: National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, college and university websites, Wikipedia.
Ellis Simon
Director of Public Relations
The City College of New York
Posted by: Ellis Simon | July 16, 2008 8:46 AM
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Congressman Rangel has tried to argue that it's perfectly appropriate for him to lease four rent-controlled apartments for his family and political use, but has now agreed to give one up, and has made the point that two had "already been combined into one unit." This is obviously an outrageous argument, when he has gained great financial benefit for years by this arrangement - a benefit not available to ordinary New Yorkers. If he wants the apartments, let him pay market rates for them.