UPDATE: Representative Charles Rangel Charged with Ethics Violations: Rent Control Apartments in Manhattan for a Congressman Living in DC?

U.S. Representative Charles Rangel, once one of the powerful men in Washington, was today charged with multiple ethics violations by the House Ethics Committee.


I wrote about Rangel's problems in this blog on December 23, 2009.


One of the ethics violations centers around rent stabilized apartments Rangel controlled in New York City. The program is to help people maintain their "primary residence" through rent assistance.


Ask yourself how a Congressman who works and lives in DC can have FOUR "primary" residences in New York at the same time.  Such are the abuses of rent control and why the idea, which never made sense, needs to go finally go away.


Rangel served his country honorably during the Korean War and for forty years in the House.  It is a shame to see a magnificent career like his end this way over something so petty.


Robert J. Abalos, Esq.