U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-NY, has been in the news in recent days, and in ways that are not welcome by Rangel or leading Democrats.

Late last week, the House Ethics Committee said it has expanded its investigation into Rangel. Also last week, House Republicans tried to have Rangel removed as head of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, but Democrats in control quickly defeated the effort.

Rangel's growing list of troubles should be making Democrats squirm.

An essay in the latest edition of Newsweek magazine looked at the ethical challenges facing Democrats in Congress, focusing on Rangel as well as Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., and offered the headline, "A bunch of hypocrites?"

It's a reasonable question.

Leading up to the 2008 elections, Democrats, including now-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, urged voters to reject Republicans after more than a few faced ethics charges. Pelosi vowed to run the most ethical Congress in history and promised to "drain the swamp."

It was a catchy phrase and an appealing thought — a new, higher ethical standard for members of Congress when it comes to financial affairs and coziness with lobbyists, including the questionable earmark spending that doles out millions of dollars of taxpayers' money, often to campaign contributors.

But nothing has changed, except it's now Democrats facing charges and protecting their own. A growing chorus of voices is questioning Pelosi's resolve and suggesting her ethics standard is a one-way street.

The top issue at the moment is Rangel, who, as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, is in charge of tax code issues.

Rangel is under investigation for a number of questionable ethical actions, including failure to pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income from a vacation villa in the Dominican Republic and failure to disclose more than $500,000 in assets on federal disclosure forms.

Rangel also has been criticized for using several rent-controlled apartments, owned by a powerful real estate developer, for his personal offices. Such usage of rent-controlled property is prohibited by law.

It's also been revealed that Rangel failed to report between $30,000 and $100,000 in rental income from a building he owned in New York.

He also has been accused of improperly using congressional stationery to solicit donations for an academic center that bears his name at a New York City college.

Rangel also is accused of failure to disclose income from the sale of a Florida condominium and assets associated with money market distributions and dividends to two checking accounts valued at between $250,000 and $500,000.

As the man heading the committee that writes tax code, Rangel apparently agrees with fellow New Yorker, the late real estate billionaire Leona Helmsley, who was famously quoted as saying, "Only the little people pay taxes."

Rangel has been included in a list of the 15 "most corrupt members of Congress" assembled by the nonpartisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The Ethics Committee said it has reviewed 12,000 pages of documents, issued 150 subpoenas and interviewed 30 people in connection with the growing list of alleged ethical violations against Rangel. Yet top Democrats remain mostly silent.

When they do comment on Rangel, Democrats only say they want to allow the ethics investigation to continue. But how long will that take? It's been going on for a year already and its scope keeps expanding.

Will Rangel's campaign contributions to the Democratic members of the Ethics Committee matter?

Would Pelosi be quiet if the same ethics violations were facing a top Republican? Unlikely.

It looks like Democrats' promise to end corruption in Congress and to set a higher ethical standard was just more empty campaign talk.

Rangel remains in his powerful post, despite facing a long list of serious ethical violations. And earmarks, the narrowly targeted spending often benefiting campaign contributors, continue, now under the Democrats.

Earmark abuses by Republicans when they controlled Congress were rightly criticized by Democrats as well as presidential candidate Barack Obama. But once Obama won and Democrats took control of the House and the Senate, earmarks remain, if at a slightly lower level.

In addition to questioning the lack of action to remove Rangel from his leadership position, the Newsweek essay also pointed to investigations swirling around Murtha, who has retained his powerful post heading the key defense appropriations subcommittee, where hundreds of millions of dollars in defense spending often is directed to specific companies, more than a few with close ties to Murtha.

By their inaction, Pelosi and other Democrats earn the hypocrite label.

Separate rules for the powerful, and more partisan politics. So much for change.