Libby Casey, APRN – Washington DC
Congressman Don Young was one of only two Republicans to vote against censuring New York Representative Charles Rangel Thursday evening.
On an overwhelming vote of 333 to 79, the House voted to subject Rangel to a public censure, the first punishment of its kind in nearly three decades. Right after the vote Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for him to stand in the House well and hear that he had been officially censured.
It’s the second-highest punishment the House offers, one step down from expulsion. Congressman Young bucked the popular call for punishment. He said in a statement that quote, “I have never voted to censure anyone. It should be up to the voters, not up to the Congress.”
Instead Young was one of only three Republicans to vote for a reprimand, a lesser punishment.
The 80-year-old Rangel was censured for 11 ethics violations, including not paying taxes on a villa in the Dominican Republic and having hundreds of thousands of dollars in undisclosed assets.
Congressman Young did stand with his party Thursday on a tax cut vote. He voted against keeping the Bush-era middle class tax cuts. Democrats pushed the vote – and won 234 to 188. Republicans say they want to keep all the Bush-era tax breaks, including those for the wealthiest households making more than $250,000. They took an all-or-nothing stance.
The middle class tax cut proposal goes to the Senate, where it has slim prospects of surviving a filibuster.
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