It is not uncommon for anyone to omit something from his tax return or financial disclosures and find the need to file an amended return or statement. It is another thing to omit numerous significant entities that could affect your stated worth or income by half. And it is entirely another thing if the absent minded taxpayer is the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee that actually writes the tax code; Mr. Charles Rangel.

In the Friday (8/28/09) editorial of the Wall Street Journal they note that the Chairman amended his financial disclosure to report more than a half million dollars in assets and income, about half of his net worth. He omitted his Federal Credit Union balance of over $250,000; vacant properties in New Jersey, stock in PepsiCo, and $75,000 in income from rental properties in the Dominican Republic.

While not significant sums in the scheme of trillion dollar deficits, it is sloppy at best and should be unacceptable from the man wielding so much power over how much taxes the rest of us pay. Given how many Obama appointees had to withdraw over tax improprieties, the Democrats would improve their credibility in tax and financial reform if they would demand some integrity from their own leaders.

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