Books, movies, politics, and whatever I want

Archive for June 16th, 2009

Updates on Obama’s illegal IG firing

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

As I noted before, our Dear Leader has removed a federal inspector general for daring to investigate the head of AmeriCorps, a political appointee of BHO. IG Gerald Walpin had found millions of dollars wasted or misspent, and as his job required, reported it. BHO responded by firing a competent government employee for actually doing his job.

John Elwood has more on the matter over at the Volokh Conspiracy.

The allegations of a politically motivated firing are getting all the attention, but being a Law Nerd, I wanted to focus briefly on, well, some of the nerdier aspects of the imbroglio. Some commentators have pointed to the bare statement of reasons in President Obama’s letter as (1) an indication that he is hiding something, as though he could not give good reasons for the firing; and (2) questioned whether that spare statement of reasons complied with the terms of the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008, which Senator Obama cosponsored.

During the brief time B. Hussein Obama was a senator, and actually showed up to work, he cosponsored a bill stating that a President could not fire an IG without valid cause. Which is pretty much exactly what he is doing now, in violation of the law he helped create.

Michelle Malkin has more on the amount of devalued American dollars that are being dumped in to AmeriCorps, and another on how this is just corrupt Chicago politics as usual.

Update: Ace notes that “Key Democratic Ally Claire McCaskill Admits Obama “Didn’t Follow Law” on Firing AmericaCorps IG.” Ace goes on to point out that McCaskill really isn’t bothered by our Dear Leader’s illegal actions, as long as he comes up with some flimsy fiction to cover his ass legally. Did you really expect any democrat to to hold B. Hussein Obama accountable for breaking the law he co-sponsored?

Update: Ms. Malkin is continuing to dig into this story. She points out that IG Walpin uncovered “the wasteful Teaching Fellows Program, run by the Research Foundation of the City University of New York, which is AmeriCorps’s largest and most expensive program.” The charges the corrupt Obama administration are bringing against inspector general Gerald Walpin are vapid and flimsy in the extreme. The only thing That IG Walpin was “confused” about was assuming that BHO administration wasn’t corrupt.

Update: IG Walpin speaks out on BHO’s lame excuse.

“That’s a total lie,” Walpin said of the latter charge. And he said the accusation that he was dazed and confused at one meeting out of many was not only false, but poor rationale for his ouster.

“It appears to suggest that I was removed because I was disabled — based on one occasion out of hundreds,” he said.

“I would never say President Obama doesn’t have the capacity to continue to serve because of his (statement) that there are 56 states,” Walpin said, adding that the same holds for Vice President Biden and his “many express confusions that have been highlighted by the media.” Obama mistakenly said once on the campaign trail that he had traveled to 57 states.

Walpin concluded that his firing stems from bad blood between him and the board, as well as with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson — an Obama supporter whom he had investigated for alleged misuse of federal funds. He said his performance at the May meeting drew criticism because he issued two reports critical of the board. In one, he criticized the settlement reached in the Johnson case; in the other, he criticized the use of millions of dollars for a program at the City University of New York.

“The board at that meeting was clearly angry at my temerity,” he said.

Yup, that’s the bottom line here. Team Lightbringer is firing a government employee for actually doing his job. This is what you can expect for anyone who dares questions the reign of Barack I, MSM-proclaimed God Emperor of America.

Update: More details from John at Powerline.

Glenn Beck’s new Book

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine