'She Told Me I Am Her Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee As Long As I Want to Be'

Apparently no amount of shady, unethical behavior will ever be enough for Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the Most Ethical Congress Ever, to jettison the wholly corrupt Charles Rangel from his chairmanship.

You have a guy three necks deep in tax problems helping write our nation's tax code.

What a world.

Rep. Charles Rangel said yesterday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has promised him he will keep his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee as long as he wants - even though investigators haven't completed their report on ethical allegations facing the Harlem Democrat.

"She told me I am her chairman of the Ways and Means Committee as long as I want to be," Rangel boasted to reporters at a ribbon-cutting for the new East Harlem School.

The surprising comments came as other members of Congress raised questions about whether Pelosi had improperly communicated with the House Ethics Committee despite strict rules against such contact.

Pelosi said in a press release last week that she "had been assured the report will be completed by the end of this session of Congress," despite rules baring the ethics panel or any staff for the panel from discussing an ongoing investigation.

Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) sent Pelosi a letter yesterday asking her to explain her actions.

"It is imperative that you address immediately the very real questions this incident raises about whether your office has sought to improperly influence the conduct, scope, timing or any other aspect of an ongoing House ethics investigation," Carter wrote.

Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said, "The speaker is relying on assurance from her staff that the Ethics Committee, as it has in the past, will try to complete its work by the end of" the current session of Congress."

In Manhattan Monday night, Pelosi was asked if Rangel would keep his chairmanship and she said "that's up to [House] Ethics," before adding, "He'll be OK."

Meanwhile, a watchdog group has called for further investigation of the rotund corruptocrat.

Common Cause, a leading government watchdog group, has asked the House ethics committee to expand its investigation of Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, to include allegations that Rangel helped preserve a tax break for an oil-drilling company after the company's CEO pledged to donate $1 million to the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service.

Rangel has denied the allegation, which was first reported last week by the New York Times. The newspaper said that Rangel allegedly helped retain a lucrative tax break for Nabors Industries after Eugene Isenberg, Nabors' CEO, made the $1 million pledge for the Rangel Center.

You know as a Democrat you've got problems when the Washington Post and New York Times are gunning for you.

He may survive, but he's gift-wrapping a two-year campaign for the GOP, assuming they're wise enough to pound it over Pelosi and Rangel's heads.