Rangel fends off five primary opponents

lets not get insane today, guys.

RightinNYC said:

In all honesty, it's not like voting for the other guy would have made much a difference. Rangel has held his seat since 1970. He won that seat by running on a platform of reform, pledging to clean up the massive corruption of his predecessor. His predecessor had held his seat since 1944 and had the dubious honor of being the first person removed from his seat by Congress. His predecessor? Adam Clayton Powell Jr. The runner up to Rangel yesterday? Adam Clayton Powell IV.

There's no doubt in my mind that had Powell won, he would have spend the next 25 years winning reelection by 40 point margins and becoming just as corrupt as his father or Rangel.

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Thanks for that, Right, as I can see now the reason. How can this problem be fixed, IYO?

Hugh_Akston said:

Rangel fends off five primary opponents - CNN.com



Unbelievable! The amount of corruption and crime in Washington that so many people complain about and yet the voters of New York still nominate this guy. I know, I know - he's not been proven guilty of anything yet, but come on. The evidence is overwhelming and he's bound to be kicked out.

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Maybe because there's less crime and corruption in DC than in Harlem.

Hugh_Akston said:

Rangel fends off five primary opponents - CNN.com

Unbelievable! The amount of corruption and crime in Washington that so many people complain about and yet the voters of New York still nominate this guy. I know, I know - he's not been proven guilty of anything yet, but come on. The evidence is overwhelming and he's bound to be kicked out.

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The funniest bit of all this is Bill Impeached Clinton did a robocall on Rangel's behalf.
One scummy politician assisting another.

For the life of me I don't understand the logic behind it, but love it.

.

danarhea said:

Tom Delay used to be mine. Wanna swap? :mrgreen:

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let's see, and Delay was convicted of what exactly?


j-mac

RightinNYC said:

In all honesty, it's not like voting for the other guy would have made much a difference. Rangel has held his seat since 1970. He won that seat by running on a platform of reform, pledging to clean up the massive corruption of his predecessor. His predecessor had held his seat since 1944 and had the dubious honor of being the first person removed from his seat by Congress. His predecessor? Adam Clayton Powell Jr. The runner up to Rangel yesterday? Adam Clayton Powell IV.

There's no doubt in my mind that had Powell won, he would have spend the next 25 years winning reelection by 40 point margins and becoming just as corrupt as his father or Rangel.

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Right now, I am sure that Powell is saying "Keep the faith, baby". :mrgreen:

Hatuey said:

Here I'll show you:

African Americans in the Twentieth Century | Economic History Services



It's fun to watch you debate history and lose. But please tell us how things were better for blacks before us big bad librulz made them poor. I dare you to. I challenge you to bring more to the table than Glenn Beck talking points and stupidity.






What two white progressives and one white socialist? These are the founders of the NAACP Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Archibald Grimké, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villard, William English Walling (the last son of a former slave-holding family) and Florence Kelley. Will you quit making **** up? 3 white people did not create the NAACP and all this talk of black people being too stupid to make it is nothing more than one more talking point but I welcome you to substantiate it with some evidence?



Making more **** up I see. For once in your life attempt to have a debate where you actually provide proof for anything you're saying?

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Hey, you don't know what you're talking about. Don't you know that white people created the NAACP, and black people created the Ku Klux Klan? :mrgreen:

Middleground said:

Thanks for that, Right, as I can see now the reason. How can this problem be fixed, IYO?

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I honestly don't know that it can be fixed. I think that the most important factor that determines whether a politician will become corrupt is whether or not his job is safe. If a politician knows that he will win reelection every year regardless of what he does, he doesn't have the same incentive to stay aboveboard. I don't know that it's possible to fix this, because even if you tried to gerrymander each district to remain competitive, there's just no way that you're going to be able to look at the South Bronx/Harlem or rural Alabama and draw a district that's anywhere near 50-50. Once one party has a stranglehold on a seat, the only possible check on the politician is a primary challenge, and those are usually extremely hard to get off the ground on such a local level.

I guess we could get around it by having term limits (say, 12 years), but I very much doubt that would ever happen and don't know that it would necessarily be a good idea.

danarhea said:

Right now, I am sure that Powell is saying "Keep the faith, baby". :mrgreen:

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He's probably biding his time til next year and thinking about which street he wants renamed after himself.

Hatuey said:

Here I'll show you:

African Americans in the Twentieth Century | Economic History Services



It's fun to watch you debate history and lose. But please tell us how things were better for blacks before us big bad librulz made them poor. I dare you to. I challenge you to bring more to the table than Glenn Beck talking points and stupidity.






What two white progressives and one white socialist? These are the founders of the NAACP Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Archibald Grimké, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villard, William English Walling (the last son of a former slave-holding family) and Florence Kelley. Will you quit making **** up? 3 white people did not create the NAACP and all this talk of black people being too stupid to make it is nothing more than one more talking point but I welcome you to substantiate it with some evidence?



Making more **** up I see. For once in your life attempt to have a debate where you actually provide proof for anything you're saying?

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I have a better idea: show us how far the black community has come with the help of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Show us what good affirmative action polices and welfare has really done for the black community.

What two white progressives and one white socialist? These are the founders of the NAACP Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Archibald Grimké, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villard, William English Walling (the last son of a former slave-holding family) and Florence Kelley. Will you quit making **** up? 3 white people did not create the NAACP and all this talk of black people being too stupid to make it is nothing more than one more talking point but I welcome you to substantiate it with some evidence?

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Thanks for proving my point.