Rep. Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island) to resign from Congress

By Richard K. Barry

Initially Rep. Grimm said he would continue to serve in the House after entering a guilty plea on felony tax evasion charges. That was until he got called into principal Skinner's office, I mean House Speaker John Boehner's office.

Truth is, this seems a strange thing to land a Republican in the dog house, given how much the GOP hate taxes. Perhaps Boehner explained to Grimm that the GOP prefers to do things the old fashioned way: use the power of the state to lower taxes for the wealthy rather than flout laws that have yet to be changed in their favour.

Grimm's impatience made him forget an essential rule of politics: it's easier to get away with theft on a grand scale than to muck about with petty larceny. Boehner must have been very disappointed.