The All Powerful Obama Fires Inspector General of AmeriCorps (For Investigating a Corrupt Crony)
Gerald Walpin, the Inspector General of the Corporation of National and Community Service, which runs AmeriCorps, was fired by Obama late last Wednesday. Walpin was in the midst of investigating Kevin Johnson’s, a former NBA star and an avid Obama supporter, misuse of funds.
If Kevin Johnson was found guilty of fraudulently spending or misusing money, he would have been barred from receiving any future federal grants. He is now the current mayor of Sacramento, California and if barred from federal grants, he would not be able to receive billions in stimulus funding.
Since the stimulus bill itself, was a major pay-to-play scheme, it is important for Obama to pay off his cronies and the constituents that voted for him, in order to secure votes in the future. Anybody acting ethically and getting in the way of the Democrats will be sure to lose their job.
Walpin was driving to upstate New York when he received the dreaded yet ironic phone call on Wednesday night from Norman Eisen, the Special Counsel to the President on Ethics and Reform. Eisen was calling Walpin on behalf of President Obama. Eisen said: “‘Mr. Walpin, the president wants me to tell you that he really appreciates your service, but it’s time to move on,’” Walpin recalls. “Eisen said, ‘You can either resign, or I’ll tell you that we’ll have to terminate you.”
At that moment, Walpin says, he had finished not only a report on the Sacramento probe but also an investigation into extensive misuse of AmeriCorps money by the City University of New York, which is AmeriCorps’ biggest program. Walpin says he told Eisen that, given those two investigations, neither of which was well-received by top Corporation management, the timing of his firing seemed “very interesting.” According to Walpin, Eisen said it was “pure coincidence.”….
In my short life, I have realized that there aren’t pure coincidences and that things tend to happen for reasons. “Nothing, absolutely nothing in God’s world happens by mistake.” This is an historic precedent that just took place, and seems like a more appropriate action from Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro than from the President of the United States.
The method of Walpin’s firing could be a violation of the 2008 Inspectors General Reform Act, which requires the president to give Congress 30 days’ notice, plus an explanation of cause, before firing an inspector general. Then-Sen. Barack Obama was a co-sponsor of that legislation. In the case of Walpin, Eisen’s efforts to force Walpin to resign could be seen as an effort to push Walpin out of his job so that the White House would not have to go through the 30-day process or give a reason for its action. When Walpin refused to quit, the White House informed Congress and began the 30-day countdown.
Eisen’s phone call came after months of increasing conflict inside the Corporation for National and Community Service. “We issued two reports that the management of the Corporation and the board of directors didn’t like, because they criticized what the board was doing,” Walpin recalls. There is no question that Walpin discovered misuse of federal money in Kevin Johnson’s program, known as St. HOPE, and at City University of New York. But as a result of those investigations, relations between Walpin and top executives became frosty, and he says they cut him out of Corporation business that should normally include the inspector general.
[...]
In the course of his investigation, Walpin found Johnson and St. HOPE had failed to use the federal money they received for the purposes specified in the grant and had also used federally-funded AmeriCorps staff for, among other things, “driving [Johnson] to personal appointments, washing his car, and running personal errands.” Walpin came to the conclusion that Johnson and St. HOPE should be subject to suspension and debarment. But it was not Walpin’s decision to make; there is another official at the Corporation whose job it is to make that call. In September 2008, after reviewing Walpin’s evidence, the official decided to order a suspension, with the distinct possibility that it would lead to a permanent debarment.
Walpin’s opinion was overruled, whereby the government promised that most of the funds would be returned. Walpin was incredibly discontented by the decision to not only undo the suspension but also attempt to vouch for St. HOPE, an organization that Walpin deemed insolvent. Walpin had gone so far as to protest the decision through the board. It was during this period of time that the Obama administration made their decision to terminate Walpin – a man who was only trying to practice integrity and do his job correctly.
Senator Grassley, a Republican Senator, has called on an investigation into the activities that took place last week. He also would like an investigation into Michelle Obama’s connections to the firing, AmeriCorps, and Kevin Johnson. As you may recall, Michelle Obama is very involved in AmeriCorps and for the first time in any first lady’s history, she actually appointed her very own czar to the organization.
We are being ruled not managed – and here I thought the mafia was bad in New York. Boy was I wrong! The thugacracy in DC takes the cake.
Obama may have studied law, but he certainly has no regard for it. Could you imagine if Karl Rove made the phone call for Bush to fire an inspector general?
Michelle Obama Dumps Chief of Staff
Could she be a diva? I guess we will find out! 
First lady Michelle Obama has replaced her chief of staff with a longtime Chicago friend in a major shakeup of the East Wing Staff.
Jackie Norris, who bonded with Obama during the 2008 primary campaign, has been replaced by Susan Sher, who worked with Obama at the University of Chicago. Sher had been providing legal advice to the administration as well as working on health care reform.
Norris, who, Obama called a “colleague and friend” has been appointed as a senior adviser to the Corporation for National and Community Service and in a statement said she is “looking forward to becoming an integral part of this Administration’s efforts to advance the cause of national and community service.”
In the same statement announcing the staff swap, Sher said: “Mrs. Obama and I have worked together for many years on issues that we both care deeply about and I appreciate the opportunity to be of greater service to her and this Administration.”
Date Night – Important During Times of Economic Turmoil
Does anybody recall Laura and George darting off on date nights once a month during his Bush’s presidency, let alone the first few months? I didn’t think so… If this was a Republican flying around on the taxpayer’s money they would surely be reprimanded by the media until the rest of the gullible masses began to agree (just like the media did with GW).
The Obama’s are the epitome of hypocritical elitists. They obviously have no regard for those who are struggling just to make ends meet if they feel that flying to NYC, which cost the taxpayers somewhere between a total of (my guesstimate range) $24,000 – $68,000, for dinner and a show on Broadway, is acceptable. (Just so you understand where the costs come from – AF1 costs about $68K to operate for an hour, the Obama’s excuse was using Marine 1 for part of the time before switching to use AF1 to land at Kennedy, but all the secret service, body guard protection, and entourage is quite costly as well):
Times Square was even more frenetic than usual, as throngs of pedestrians — certainly including many tourists — lined several blocks waiting to catch a glimpse of Mr. and Mrs. Obama. The presidential date night began with a late-afternoon flight from Andrews Air Force Base, with Mr. Obama wearing a dark blue suit (no tie), and Mrs. Obama a black cocktail dress and a sleek updo, holding a turquoise clutch.
They landed at Kennedy International Airport at 4:45 p.m. and after taking a quick helicopter ride to Lower Manhattan, the presidential motorcade snaked its way up to Blue Hill, a restaurant off Washington Square Park that specializes in cuisine from the Hudson Valley. (It sounded like the choice of Mrs. Obama, who favors local food.)
Hours before the show began, the Secret Service cordoned off the entire block of 44th Street between Avenue of the Americas and Broadway, where the Belasco is located.
You could just as well have a nice date night at home renting a movie and having a couple glasses of wine.
It just irks me that here is a man and woman who campaigned about being more like the average American, understanding the strife of oppressed communities, but when elected become the jet-setting duo who have no respect for the current economic turmoil, unemployment rates, or the looming national bankruptcy our country may be facing.
Word has it that they went to see ‘Wicked’ in honor of Michelle MaBelle’s personality and of the couple taunting the lowly classes who have to work to survive.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry, who obviously is not American, makes more of an effort to visit the regular folks and pay his respects to those who lost their lives in 9/11. Prince Harry visited Ground Zero this weekend and laid a wreath at the site in memoriam for the British men and women who lost their lives that day. He also visited a school in Harlem, the Fire Station in NYC that has the most fatalities, etc. But BO finds it more important to go to a Broadway show. Prince Harry, who has served overseas surely knows the cost and sacrifice of one’s own life for the many who will be saved from terrorism…
Prince – can we please elect you?
Michelle Obama Understands the Struggles of the Little People… Snort!
Could you imagine if a conservative had said the same thing Michelle Obama did today!?
First lady Michelle Obama called her “current life” in the White House “a very blessed situation, because I have what most families don’t have — tons of support all around, not just my mother, but staff and administration. I have a chief of staff and a personal assistant, and everyone needs that.”
Everyone needs assistants – you measly little people ought to try it some time… it’s not like anyone can take care of themselves on their own.
“Everyone should have a chief of staff and a set of personal assistants,” Obama said with a laugh as she spoke before a crowd of business executives meeting today during a “Corporate Voices for Working Families” conference at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.
There she goes again – trying to help out the unemployment rate of the United States…although this doesn’t make much sense considering the lack of individuals available to be assistants if EVERYBODY gets them.
Along with the issues of community service and military families, Obama has said as first lady she wants to focus on the struggles of working families.
Focusing on the struggles of working families means paying for expensive staff, maids, assistants, make-up artists, and hair stylists… I know I do/sarc.
During her 10-minute speech, Obama advocated for sick leave for parents, flexible work hours for employees and on-site child care, which she said “is something that keeps many of us up at night….You’re just wondering where are we going to put our children where we feel like that they’re being safe, that they’re safe and being loved. That will relieve many of the stresses that parents feel on the job throughout the day.”
Well, with the new Michelle Obama Molly Maid service you won’t have to worry about your kids ever again! They will just take care of them for you…
Must be nice for a woman who remembers as a kid growing on the south side of Chicago being ridiculed for trying to be educated and get good grades.
“I wanted an “A”. I wanted to be smart. I wanted to be the person who had the right answer. And I didn’t care if it was cool – ’cause I remember there were kids around my neighborhood who would say ‘ooh – you talk funny. you talk – like a white girl.’ I heard that growing up my whole life.”
Oh the horror, the agony, the pain! Of being called a white girl…
In other news, CNN has now confirmed that Obama will eat another hamburger this month, but the location is unknown. NBC is still waiting for the release of additional photos that show Michelle and Barack held hands crossing the White House lawn, two consequetive days in a row!
Shoes for Every Recession
Michelle Obama was recently photographed wearing some pretty fancy tennis shoes. These shoes are so fancy in fact, that they cost nearly $540.00! It appears that the recession is not affecting certain people of a higher class, those that are receiving taxpayer money for their salaries and expenses. Taxpayers are the ones losing their jobs and having to cut costs and budget wisely, but leave it to the hypocritical Democrats who live by the motto “X for me, but not for thee!”
My issue has always been double standards, but in this instance I think it also speaks volumes that the Obama’s truly are out of touch with the average American and the strife we go through on a daily basis to make ends meet, especially in these trying times. It would be nice to have a little consideration and decency and show of respect for those who may be struggling right now, but I forgot these are wealthy, hypocritical Democrats we are talking about. I just want people to wake up to the reality that the Democrats are not the party of the middle or lower class – in fact it’s the exact opposite!
Michelle Obama has taken casual to a haute new level.
While volunteering Wednesday at a D.C. food bank, the First Lady sported her usual J.Crew cardigan, a pair of utilitarian capri pants and, on her feet, a sneaky splurge: trainers that go for $540.
That’s right: These sneakers – suede, with grosgrain ribbon laces and metallic pink toe caps – are made by French design house Lanvin, one of fashion’s hottest labels. They come in denim and satin versions, and have been a brisk seller all spring.
They’re out of stock at posh Meatpacking District boutique Jeffrey, and Barneys New York boasts a limited selection of the sneaks, which are a cult favorite among fashionistas.
It’s likely Michelle got hers through Ikram, the Chicago retailer that often outfits her.
“They’re shoes,” the First Lady’s reps sniffed when curious reporters inquired about the fancy footwear.
Exactly, they are trendy shoes! Shoes that are worn by Ellen Degeneres and Kanye West; celebrities. This couple makes me sick – try being leaders instead of trend-setting celebrities for a change!
