Rangel versus Cheney: War of the Words

The banter between the White House and Congress is heating up. If you thought the Kerry-Bush scrapping was good, you gotta see the verbal grenades being thrown by VP Dick Cheney and Congressman Rangel from New York.

Cheney basically said that if the Democrats won the House, they'd raise taxes (by not re-upping Bush's stupid tax cuts) and Rangel would be the one to do it since he'd be the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. By essentially just sitting on his hands, Rangel could kill the re-extension of the cuts, thereby "raising" taxes.

Two things:

• Letting temporary tax cuts expire is not raising taxes
• The tax cuts are due to expire in 2010. Rangel might not even be in Congress by then, let alone the Chaiman of the Ways and Means Committee

Rangel fired back (from the New York Post):

"He's such a real son of a bitch, he just enjoys a confrontation." Rangel said Cheney may need to go to "rehab" for "whatever personality deficit he may have suffered." "When you have those sorts of problems, you're supposed to seek help," Rangel advised.

And the kicker (again, from NYP):

Asked whether he was resurrecting over-the-top charges he made last year that he believes Cheney is mentally ill, Rangel cracked, "I don't think he's shot anyone in the face lately, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt."

Cheney's response:

"Charlie doesn't understand how the economy works."