NEW YORK POST: Step Down, Charlie:

Charlie Rangel must be a centipede – given how many shoes have been dropping regarding his personal finances.

Yet he’s pugnaciously defying demands that he step aside as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee – which writes the nation’s tax laws.

And, after two closed-door sitdowns with him in 12 hours, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she has no intention of stripping him of his prestigious position – no matter how big an embarrassment he’s become.

“I see no reason why Mr. Rangel should step down,” she said yesterday.

She’s obviously not looking very hard.

Because, with each passing day, the Manhattan Democrat’s ethical shortcomings grow ever more obvious.

Which is why he’s hired a “forensic accountant” to autopsy 20 years worth of back tax returns. (Think “CSI: Charlie.”)

Ouch. Seems to me that the inability of somebody like Rangel to keep his taxes straight is, at the very least, an argument for radical tax simplification of some sort. Not that that gets Rangel off the hook, any more than it would for you or me.

Some more thoughts on Nancy Pelosi’s limp response to the Rangel scandals: “Normal people would be facing jail time for such shenanigans. And we’re not even going to mention his four rent-controlled apartments in the same Harlem building.”