Abuse of Government Power, Small and Large

Two stories caught my eye this past weekend, both dealing with financial shenanigans. The large implication, G.E. avoiding millions in taxes, and the small one, a borrower jailed for lying about his income level, will most likely be ignored.

But deep within both were stunning examples of abuse of power, by the I.R.S. and Charlie Rangel:

"...Robert W. Nordlander, a special agent for the Internal Revenue Service. As Mr. Nordlander later told the grand jury, “Being the special agent that I am, I was wondering, how does a guy train for this because most people have to work from nine to five and it’s very difficult to train for this part-time.” (He also told the grand jurors that sometimes, when he sees somebody driving a Ferrari, he’ll check to see if they make enough money to afford it."

Nordander decided to go after a man, not because of any complaint or evidence, but because he wonders how a guy made his money.

The other:

"[Charlie] Rangel and Mr. Immelt stood together at St. Nicholas Park in Harlem as G.E. announced that its foundation had awarded $30 million to New York City schools, including $11 million to benefit various schools in Mr. Rangel’s district. Joel I. Klein, then the schools chancellor, and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who presided, said it was the largest gift ever to the city’s schools."

This was after Rangel, who was at the time chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, had been deciding if a tax break that G.E. was exploiting should continue. He was against it and then he was for it.

So one man goes to jail for doing something that he might not even have done, lying about income to borrow money, and Rangel stays and Immelt becomes an Obama advisor.