Arrogance 101 by Charlie Rangel
Andrew Roth
From Kim Strassel in the Wall Street Journal's Political Diary ($):
Accuse Congressman Charlie Rangel of what you will, but don't ever suggest he's humble. The Harlem Congressman recently offered one of the more blatant, if amusing, earmarks on record: a $2 million request for the City College of New York to establish the "Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service."
The House intends to start marking up its big labor and health spending bill this afternoon, stuffed with at least 1,300 earmarks. Congressmen must put their names to their earmark requests for first time, and some of the more embarrassing pork demands are beginning to slip out. Nevada's Shelley Berkley wants taxpayers to fork over $200,000 for a Las Vegas school set up by Andre Agassi (who in 2004 was listed as the nation's 27th richest individual under the age of 40), while the infamous John Murtha is seeking $750,000 for the United Mine Workers -- a union with a heavy presence in Pennsylvania.
But few live up to Mr. Rangel's request to name a public building in his own honor. The New Yorker filed the requisite paperwork certifying that he has no financial interest in the earmark he requested. The lack of any direct monetary benefit, however, hardly negates the psychic rewards and other benefits of having his name on a prominent New York City building.
The Republican Study Committee, which has been doggedly going after the most egregious of these earmarks in recent weeks, will reportedly target Mr. Rangel's on the floor in the coming days. But despite all the rhetoric from both parties about cleaning up the earmark mess, members have so far only voted down one small earmark. Don't expect the popular Mr. Rangel's earmark to be the second.
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