ABOVE THE LAW

It is astounding the audacity of some people. There is no shame among men. Instead of being humbled by their actions, they respond with arrogance. When man has the ability to make laws, he will always seek to be himself exempt from those same laws. He thinks because he makes laws, that he is above those laws. He does not want to be held accountable for his actions. Everyone else is subject but he considers himself as a sovereign.

This fact happens repeatedly within the political realm of this nation. Their names are legion of politicians who have been caught breaking the law and yet, instead of trying to reform their behavior, they refuse to acknowledge that they have done anything wrong. Instead, they blame others saying that there is a conspiracy out to get them. They will not admit any guilt. They seek to put the guilt on others.

An example is Representative Charles Rangel, Democrat from New York. Rangel is going to pay back taxes of thousands of dollars for unreported rental income on a vacation home that he owns. What makes this situation interesting is that Rangle is the chairman of a tax writing committee. He has oversight of the tax code and yet, he has broken this code by not reporting income. If he knowingly did not report this rental income, then he is guilty of tax evasion. How can someone ethically write tax code and yet evade it at the same time?

Rangel is also under fire for other issues of his finances. As is predictable, Rangel refuses to take responsibility for his actions. Rangel’s lawyer, Lanny Davis said "he (Rangel) will not give up the chairmanship." This demonstrates Rangel’s arrogance. He can break the tax law and yet he still wants to be able to write the tax code. This violates the principle of having clean hands. Rangel’s hands are stained with hypocrisy. He wants us to conform to the tax regulations but he exempts himself.

Davis went on to say, "Mr. Boehner’s (Republican Minority Leader) hyper-partisan attack on an honorable man, Charles Rangel, is completely contrary to the spirit of bipartisanship." What does paying back taxes on unreported rental income have to do with bipartisanship? This is an attempt by Rangel to avoid the issue of his behavior. He does not want to be held accountable for his actions. He believes that he is above the law and that we all are fools.