Pelosi Fact Check: Rangel Did Violate House Rules

Its been another week that I’m certain the Democrats in DC are happy to put behind them. Happy too, probably, that another snowicane slammed the Northeast. Anything to distract any part of the populace from what can only be described as a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad week.

A few weeks ago, the Democrats loudly proclaimed they would “pivot to jobs” and public concerns about spending. But, their addiction to ‘comprehensive health reform’ proved too powerful, culminating in one last, ‘we really mean it this time’ effort to pass a proposal opposed by a majority of the public. Yesterday’s surreal six-hour gab-fest/lecture on the topic was almost too bizarre to invite further comment. I mean, the spectacle speaks for itself. How did this ever seem like a good idea, even on paper. Giving the GOP a national platform to talk intelligently on health care is certainly an interesting strategy to pass ObamaCare. Clearly, too brilliant for me to understand.

As if the ‘summit’ debacle weren’t enough for Democrats to welcome the weekend, we now get the revelation that, according to the House Ethics Committee, Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) did in fact violate House ethics rules. (Shock!) Of course, simple facts aren’t really a problem for House Speaker Pelosi. If they are inconvenient, she’ll just pick some new ones. From today’s The Hill:

Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said she’s once again sticking by embattled Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) (D-N.Y.) — at least for now.

Pelosi (D-Calif.) said during a Friday press conference that she had not yet read the full report from the ethics committee, which admonished Rangel, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, for improperly accepting reimbursement for two trips to the Caribbean.

“All I saw was the press release where they said he did not violate the rules of the House,” Pelosi said. “And I think that’s an important statement that they made.”

Fine except, you know, he did violate the rules of the House.

From the Ethics Committee’s official statement:

“The Report further finds that Representative Charles B. Rangel violated the House gift rule by accepting payment or reimbursement for travel to the 2007 and 2008 conferences.”

I’m not certain what press release exonerating Rangel Pelosi is referring to, but shouldn’t she be paying just a tad bit more attention to alleged ethical violations by one of the most powerful members of her caucus. We are talking about the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, perhaps the most powerful committee on the hill. I would hope Nancy “drain the swamp” Pelosi might do a bit more than just glance at a press release on the matter.

Then again, it has been a pretty bad week for her side. Perhaps she’ll just move to Australia.