Constitutionally, all tax measures originate in the House of Representatives, and within the House the chief writer of the nation’s tax laws is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y. He turns out to be a tax cheat. He “forgot” to report tens of thousands of dollars in income from rental properties he owns in New York City, and he has paid up on his debts to the IRS and New York tax authorities. But in so doing, he made the outlandish claim that his tax troubles were the result of Republican-inspired “guerilla warfare.” We’re no fans of the IRS or tax collectors in general, but it is a wee bit much for Rangel to claim that his troubles with the IRS and tax authorities in Democrat-controlled New York were anything other than his own willful ignorance of his own tax filings or, to be more charitable, sloppiness. Either way, there’s no excuse for someone of Rangel’s means and supposed expertise to be in hot water with tax authorities.