Lurita Doan commentator, Federal News Radio, former GSA administrator :
Let's face it: some folks don't like Charlie Rangel, so he's being singled out from the pack. Standards for ethics and appropriate behavior are not consistently applied across all members of Congress. During the past year, the bailouts, the TARP, the stimulus and the various conundrums over Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have shown that there are many in the Congress who do not have clean hands in the matter of ethics and gifts. To the average American, the congressional gift rules seem to be lackadaisically applied, in both the House and the Senate. Why is accepting a below-market interest mortgage from a banker under investigation by congress, or bailing out an insurance company which indirectly represents over 50% of a member's personal, financial portfolio be any less of a "gift" than accepting free travel? Why is it less of a "gift" to provide free travel to family members and friends, on a plane funded by taxpayer dollars, while other members of Congress traveling to the same location are not offered a seat and thus have to pay to fly commercial? Americans would be shocked to discover how many family members are on the payrolls and contractor lists, thereby providing Members a legal way to siphon off campaign funds for personal use. Don't you think it's kind of strange that most elected members arrive in Washington as men and women of modest means, earning less than $200,000, but almost all leave Washington, years later, as multi-millionaires?