Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum - Look out Democrats Here We Come - Paterson & Rangel

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Just in time for the fall elections it seems as if the new bad boys of the Democratic party are not going away nor going to get booted by the Democratic leaders. As Obama and the Democrats circle the wagons for a tough fall campaign their problems are compounded by the fact Governor David Paterson and Congressman Charles Rangel are refusing to resign from their posts thus keeping both in the public limelight and reinforcing to the public that our political establishment is corrupt.



Paterson started out bad enough when he took over as New York governor for Eliot Spitzer after a prostitution scandal cost Spitzer his governors office. Then just after taking the oath of office Paterson admitted to affairs while he was married. But the people of New York seemed to forgive him. Then he tried to use the power of his office to silence a woman who was beaten up by one of his aides.

This abuse of office would not go away and Paterson multiplied his problems by first sending two state troopers out to talk with her, then personally calling her the day before she was to testify on the beating. In the end their threats to get her to drop the charges scared her off and she refused to go to court. It was an abuse of authority that may not be forgiven by the New York voters. Paterson refuses to resign. Yet President Obama, the national and state Democratic parties refuse to condemn the actions.



Rangel today asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to give him a leave of absence as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, one of the most powerful positions in Congress, in order to fight charges from the House Ethics Committee that he took numerous trips financed by corporations, a violation of House rules.



However, it is widely known that this is just the tip of the iceberg of corruption with Rangel as other investigations are underway including IRS inquiries into failing to pay taxes on apartments in NYC and foreign owned property among other issues. These will soon be added to the first House ethics charges and will make the most powerful tax Chairman in Washington defend himself from not paying taxes.

Of course Pelosi knows about all the investigations even though she has only commented on the first minor revelations and she could remove him permanently from being Chairman, or even ask that he be thrown out of the House which should happen if IRS files charges. Pelosi has defended Rangel, one might presume because she appointed him Chairman of Ways and Means, and continues to allow him to remain in the House. Obama, though both Paterson and Rangel were supporters, has refused to say anything as if this institutional corruption has nothing to do with him.



Since Obama campaigned against the Washington establishment and corruption in our nation's capitol and throughout politics it seems odd he would not comment on the cases. Notwithstanding their support for his campaign, there comes a time when one must disassociate themselves from corruption. Once again the Democratic party has had no comment as well.

If these two politicians are not thrown out of office before the election it will be yet another albatross for the president and example of how he said one thing during the campaign and did another once he was elected. Protecting potential crooks or abusers of power does not seem like a defensible position when it comes time for the people to vote again.



It is actions like these by our Washington and Wall Street leaders that caused the formation of the Tea Party Movement and that will further empower that movement this fall. Not to be overlooked is the role the media played in not covering these issues nor pressing for the facts when they started to leak out. Now, of course, the media are writing about it but for a long time they have known about it.



In one of the ironies of politics it was just a short time ago that Rangel called on the public to let his friend David Paterson finish his term in office. The New York Daily News headline shouted Rep. Charles Rangel, Congressman Gregory Meeks and Rev. Sharpton: Let Gov. Paterson finish his term. Now he has to worry about finishing his own term.

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New York Governor David A. Paterson - Another Obama Man Bites the Dust

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At any moment David Paterson, the highly acclaimed Governor of New York who took office after the prostitution scandal of the last NY governor, Eliot Spitzer, and was widely hailed by President Obama and the Democratic National Committee as a future leader of the party, will resign in a sea of scandal, poor performance and idiotic judgment. It was an amazing fall from grace with personal affairs being revealed first and then an abuse of power which should force his resignation.

It seems Paterson found it necessary to dispatch state cops to silence a witness against one of his personal staff, a staffer who beat up a young lady. Then Paterson called her the day before she was to testify in the trial. She was scared to death and failed to show up at the hearing. That will be the last straw toward ending his career and he will stand alone as the second governor of New York to resign during the same four year term in a barrage of scandals. It is another dark day for the Obama Democrats.



David A. Paterson became New York's 55th Governor on March 17, 2008. In his first address as Governor, Paterson spoke about the challenges facing New York and his plans to build a better and brighter future for the citizens of this great state.

Governor Paterson was ahead of the national curve in predicting and acting on the State's current fiscal downturn. Despite the greatest economic crisis our State has ever faced, Governor Paterson has enacted sweeping reforms on a wide range of issues facing New Yorkers.

Governor Paterson led the movement to create permanent reforms to the way health care is delivered in New York State to rationalize the State's Medicaid reimbursement system and provide increased investment in primary and preventative care. He overhauled the Rockefeller Drug Laws for the first time in more than 30 years and after a 9-year struggle to update the 1982 law governing bottle deposits, Governor Paterson guided the legislature to enact the Bigger Better Bottle Bill. In addition, as a result of the Governor's leadership, the Empire Zone Program is being reformed, the basic welfare grant was increased for the first time in two decades to help assist those struggling in poverty during a time of unprecedented economic turmoil and unemployment insurance benefits have been extended.

Governor Paterson successfully negotiated an MTA bailout plan allowing commuters to avoid painful service reductions and he introduced landmark civil rights legislation that will end legal discrimination against same-sex couples in New York.

In 1985, at the age of 31, Governor Paterson was elected to represent Harlem in the New York State Senate, becoming the youngest Senator in Albany at the time. In 2003, he became the first non-white legislative leader in New York's history when he was elevated to Minority Leader of the Senate. He made history again in 2004 when he became the first visually impaired person to address the Democratic National Convention and again in 2007 when he became New York's first African- American Lieutenant Governor. As Lieutenant Governor, he led the charge on several crucial issues for New York's future including achieving legislation for stem cell research, working to prevent domestic violence, putting forth a statewide renewable energy strategy and championing the expansion of minority and women owned businesses in New York.

Governor Paterson, who is legally blind, is nationally recognized as a leading advocate for the visually and physically impaired. He is a member of the American Foundation for the Blind and he serves on the Board of the Achilles Track Club. He serves as a member of the Democratic National Committee and as a Chairman of the Coalition of Northeast Governors (CONEG).

Paterson was selected as running mate by then-New York Attorney General and Democratic Party nominee Eliot Spitzer in the 2006 gubernatorial election. Spitzer and Paterson were elected in November 2006 with 69 percent of the vote, and Paterson took office as Lieutenant Governor on January 1, 2007.



When Spitzer resigned in the wake of a prostitution scandal, Paterson was sworn in as governor of New York on March 17, 2008. Paterson initially intended to run for a full term in the 2010 governor's race, but announced on February 26, 2010, that he would not be a candidate in the Democratic primary.

What a waste of a career. But then the White House had already undertaken a campaign to drive him from office by opposing his re-election.

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