Wow, if the Buffalo News recognizes that Charlie Rangel should step down… then he really ought to consider doing such.

His situation is nearly untenable. He leads the House tax-writing committee, yet he acknowledges that he failed to report about $75,000 in rental income on his beach house in the Dominican Republic. He owes about $5,000 to the IRS in back taxes on that income and somewhat less in state and local taxes. Rangel also says he did not know he received a no-interest mortgage from the developers of the Dominican resort. In addition, financial discrepancies have turned up in disclosure documents he has filed.

It’s all too much for a congressman with such influence over federal tax policy. Indeed, were Republicans still in the majority, Rangel and his compatriots would be clamoring for the head of a committee chairman with these problems — as GOP critics are calling for Rangel’s.

Of course, Rangel refuses to step down, which is pretty typical of a Democrat. If a Republican were in the same situation, Nancy Pelosi would be demanding resignations and calling for investigations, but with a member of her own party, she’s letting it slide.

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Nancy Pelosi may be publicly supporting Charlie Rangel by saying she won’t ask him to step aside, but the New York Post says sources tell them that privately, Pelosi is urging Rangel to step aside.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday privately pushed Rep. Charlie Rangel to give up his chairmanship of the influential House tax-rules committee amid explosive revelations that his personal tax filings were riddled with errors and omissions, a wellplaced source said.

[...]

One member of the New York congressional delegation who supported Pelosi’s decision said, “You have to have one standard - you can’t have one for [Republicans] and one for us.”

Rangel himself remained mum on his sitdown with Pelosi after exiting a later, separate meeting with fellow Democratic committee members.

“I am unable to say anything,” he said before bizarrely rattling off his name, rank and serial number from his Korean War days. “Do to me what you want, I’m not talking.”

The 76-year-old politician smiled when asked if he was still chairman of the powerful tax panel.

Pelosi later denied through spokesperson Nadeam Elshami that she has asked Rangel to step aside.

 If Pelosi doesn’t ask Rangel to step aside as chairman, then John McCain stands to benefit significantly, as he supports the fact that unlike his fellow Democrats, he’s willing to target corruption within his own party. As the Democrats’ presidential nominee, Barack Obama should have called for Rangel to step aside when the allegations first surfaced. But, he didn’t, thus missing his chance to match his rhetoric with actions. But then again, when your campaign is based on slogans over substance, what else were we to expect?

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