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Censure briefly forgotten as House leaders honor Rep. Charles RangelBy Russell Berman - 09/22/11 07:24 PM ET House leaders honored Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y) with an official Capitol portrait Thursday, sweeping aside two years of scandal and a formal rebuke to recognize a man who rose from humble beginnings to become a congressional pioneer. As a packed committee room full of hometown supporters and congressional allies serenaded Rangel with chants of “Charlie, Charlie,” it seemed as though the ethical firestorm that led to a House censure had been briefly forgotten. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) lauded his “long and highly decorated...

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other House leaders paid tribute to Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) on September 22, despite the fact that he was overwhelmingly censured by the House less than a year ago for ethics violations and has a history of courtship with Soviet and Communist subversive activities. In December 2010, when the House was controlled by the Democratic majority of the 111th Congress, Democrats and Republicans overwhelmingly voted 333-79 to censure Congressman Rangel with regard to unpaid taxes on property he owned in the Dominican Republican, other hidden assets, and for improper use of the his campaign...

Awkward: House leaders to honor Rangel nine months after censureBy Russell Berman - 09/21/11 04:43 PM ET It may be one of the more awkward honorary ceremonies in recent memory. On Thursday, House leaders will pay tribute to Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), less than a year after the House formally censured the former chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will speak at a ceremony to unveil Rangel’s official portrait as chairman of the storied committee, which the longtime New York Democrat led from 2007 until March 2010, when party leaders pressured him to give up...

Michael Faulkner is challenging Rangel on the Republican line. A former NY Jet, he’s pastor of Harlem's New Horizons Church. Faulkner advocates: * Cutting taxes and regs — especially for small business — to spark job creation. * Encouraging alternatives to public-education, including charters and full school choice. * Redoing O/Care to improve health care rather than reworking insurance. Harlem residents tired and embarrassed by Rangel’s conduct should vote for Faulkner Nov. 2.