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.
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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?
Dick Durbin Another Democrat Corruptocrat
One thing is for sure, Illinois certainly knows how to breed corruption. They groom some real class acts in that state! Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) has been accused of insider trading and is being investigated for some suspicious activities he took on the eve of the financial collapse last Fall. Dick Durbin is somebody who we should know better – he is the 2nd highest ranked Senator in the Democrat Party after Harry Reid. He is the Majority Whip in the Senate, currently holding seats on the Judiciary Committee, the Rules and Administration Committee, and the Appropriations Committee (of which he is the chair of the financial services & general government subcommittee)!
The Illinois senator’s 2008 financial disclosure statement shows he sold mutual-fund shares worth $42,696 on Sept. 19, the day after then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged congressional leaders in a closed meeting to craft legislation to help financially troubled banks. The same day, he bought $43,562 worth of Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B stock, the disclosure shows.
Altogether, Durbin sold investments worth $116,000 in September. By Oct. 2, he had invested $98,046 in Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway, the form shows.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index plunged 4.7 percent last Sept. 15 after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bank of America Corp.’s government-engineered takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co. By the end of October, the index had fallen 22.6 percent.
His spokesperson claims that he was just acting like every other American who were taking major hits on their portfolios and moving the money into a safer investment.
However, the timing of his move, especially after a closed-door meeting with the head of Treasury is a little too convenient. Martha Stewart was arrested for less – why should a senator/lawmaker have more leniency when it comes to abiding by the law? I would think that somebody who makes laws, would certainly know when they are breaking them as well. Unfortunately, politicians always seem to be immune to legal repercussions, a real moral hazard in our government. I’m sure if Durbin is indicted and possibly found guilty upon further investigation, his buddy Obama will grant immunity… I’d also be surprised if more than just this one paper reports that yet another Democrat is corrupt and gaming the system.
The Palin Effect Hits New York?
Sarah Palin is unlike any politician we have seen for a very long time, if ever. She is a people’s politician and believes in middle America, more than the powers that be. She is a self-made woman who owes nobody, except God and family, for where she is today. So many Americans are drawn to her solely due to her genuineness and her bond with working Americans. She doesn’t speak using erudite and urbane words, fancy rhetoric that contains no substance – no, she just speaks in a simple fashion, right to the heart of America.
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette writes:
President Barack Obama is, by far, the most popular politician in America. And there is little doubt who is No. 2.
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That many liberals found Mr. Letterman’s remarks humorous speaks not only to their depravity, but to their fear. The 20,000 who turned out to see Ms. Palin in Auburn testify to the fact that she strikes a responsive chord with ordinary people no other Republican does.
Liberals and some Beltway conservatives assert Ms. Palin is stupid. She frequently is misquoted — most recently by Dan Balz in The Washington Post Wednesday — to make her appear so.
But I’d say she got the better of it in her exchange with David Letterman. And her brief walk across the stage at the GOP dinner Monday drew more attention than Mr. Gingrich’s stem-winding speech. For someone who, according to the Washington cognoscenti, doesn’t know what she’s doing, she’s doing pretty well.
I don’t think Sarah Palin has decided whether she’d like to live in the White House. But if she does, ignoring the conventional wisdom in Washington may be the best way to get there.
Palin drew a crowd of over 20,000 people in Auburn, a small democratic town, in New York. I do not recall any other “failed” vice presidential candidate still receiving this much attention and still shown this much support from regular folks.
Upon her departure to Washington, D.C., Monday, two New York senate Democrats filibustered with the Republicans, and switched sides. Of course you cannot tie the event directly to Sarah Palin, but the move after her visit, is definitely considerable. She was also ridiculed by David Letterman for her visit to New York, which even included a fund-raising event for an Autism Walk. Liberals seem to do all that they can to destroy this woman and use the most vile, despicable, and non-substantive attacks against her.
Letterman’s sexist, misogynistic remarks against Governor Palin and her daughter(s) were heard around the world. A New York lawmaker has called on Letterman to step down. It’s incredible, that of all places, New York is standing up for the Governor.
She has set off a loyal army of support around the nation and a petition has been created to fire David Letterman, as well as a campaign to write to the CBS/David Letterman sponsors to cease their sponsorship or be boycotted by former consumers. It will be interesting how this all breaks down.
And on a final note, Sarah Palin must be doing something right, hell even froze over, NOW, the National Organization for Women (or as I like to refer to them as, the Nauseating Obama Women), who have never so much as batted an eye when sexist remarks or unfounded attacks have been made against conservative women, have officially come out in support of Palin and have put Letterman into their Hall of Shame. I’m flabbergasted!
Breaking News: Shooting at the Holocaust Museum in DC; UPDATE: 89-Yr.-Old White Supremacist Was Shooter; UPDATE II: Guard That Was Shot, Has Died
Via FoxNews: “At least two people were shot at the national Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, an official told FOX News. Other media reports said a man walked into the museum and shot a security guard. Another guard returned fire, wounding the alleged shooter.
At least 3 have been shot. More to come…
UPDATE:
At least three people were shot today at Washington’s Holocaust Museum, after an 89-year-old white supremacist entered the building and opened fire “indiscriminately”.
Emergency services said that two adult males were taken to hospital suffering from “serious gunshot wounds” after the gunman opened fire in the museum, situated in central Washington, about one mile from the White House.
The gunman, believed to be James W Von Brunn, is in custody. Police said that he was shot by one of the museum’s guards, and sources said he was hit in the head.
UPDATE II:
Guard shot at the museum earlier today has died. Please keep his family, friends, and loved ones in your prayers.
