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, a New York City Democrat.

He turns out to be a tax cheat. He ''forgot'' to report $75,000 in income from rental properties he owns in the Dominican Republic, and he has paid up on his $10,500 debt 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 ''guerrilla warfare.''

We're no fans of the IRS 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. He should have paid his back taxes and accepted responsibility instead of attempting to claim that his own shortcomings are not the point.

Obviously, they are.

Rangel's finger-pointing tends to affirm what seems obvious from the basic facts of his case, which involved outright failure to file the appropriate forms for a rental property owner: He cheated, he got caught, and he'd really rather voters blame someone, anyone, else. Fortunately, most of them are bright enough to understand that none of Rangel's political foes filled out his tax forms for him.

If the tax law is too complex for a modest rental property owner to figure out, then presumably Rangel is in an ideal position to change it. Unfortunately, he has mostly used his roost on Ways and Means to push for ever more complexity and a still-higher tax burden on those who take calculated risks to create jobs.

Rangel has dishonored his position on the Ways and Means Committee. A more ethical congressional leadership would demand his gavel and appoint someone to the chairmanship whose compliance with the laws he would be charged with writing is reproach.