More Thug Tactics: Obama ‘Whacks’ Inspector General

WedNEWSday - June 17th, 2009

The Inspector General of the AmeriCorps was fired, without the 30 days notice required by law, by Barack Obama.  Gerald Walpin, the fired inspector, appears to have been the target of retaliation by Barack and Michelle Obama.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) Missouri, openly objected to the dismissal.

“The White House has failed to follow the proper procedure in notifying Congress as to the removal of the Inspector General for the Corporation for National and Community Service,” McCaskill said in a statement. “The legislation which was passed last year requires that the president give a reason for the removal. ‘Loss of confidence’ is not a sufficient reason. I’m hopeful the White House will provide a more substantive rationale, in writing, as quickly as possible.”

Ironically, the move to fire Walpin comes on the heels of Obama supported legislation in which Congress must be notified in writing as to the reasons for dismissal, along with 30-days notice, prior to terminating an Inspector General.  This consequently makes the firing by Obama more than suspicious as we learned that Walpin was leading an investigation into the misappropriation of  nearly $1 million of taxpayer funds by AmeriCorps and Sacramento Mayor, former NBA player, and friend of Obama, Kevin Johnson.

Walpin led a 2008 investigation into allegations of misused taxpayer funds distributed by AmeriCorps to the St. HOPE Academy of Sacramento, founded in 1989 by Obama supporter and former NBA player Kevin Johnson. Walpin said Johnson, now mayor of Sacramento, misused roughly $850,000 in AmeriCorps funds. His referral to the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not result in the filing of criminal charges. But St. HOPE officials agreed, via a settlement, to repay half of its AmeriCorps grants.

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Additionally, Michelle Obama has found herself muddled in this mess also, as her former chief of staff became an advisor to AmeriCorps.

Republicans began to question Michelle Obama’s role after press reports indicated she was taking a strong interest in AmeriCorps activities and when her former chief of staff, Jackie Norris, became a “senior adviser” to the Corporation for National and Community Service, also known as AmeriCorps.

The Washington Times weighed in on this pointing out in their editorial that “another, bigger controversy, this one involving a program at the City University of New York (CUNY), has been largely overlooked.”

The Fellows Program earns praise, but the AmeriCorps funding is far from essential for it. The grants, therefore - “upwards of $80 million of taxpayer money,” Mr. Walpin told The Washington Times on Saturday - would be far better used for other purposes.

The Washington Times concludes by reminding us that an Inspector General is a nonpartisan public official of the highest integrity and Walpin’s dismissal by Obama is backed by no concrete reasoning and is therefore unconscionable.

Mr. Obama effectively shot the messenger with last week’s IG firing. Mr. Walpin has embarrassed two of the president’s supporters, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Solomont. Apparently that is cause for dismissal in this administration - even for a nonpartisan public official of unquestioned integrity.

Federal inspectors general were created to be free from political interference. Many of them serve through the terms of several presidents regardless of party affiliation. Their entire job is to root out fraud, abuse and waste of the very sort Mr. Walpin, to his credit, identified at CUNY.

The law governing inspectors general mandates that a president can remove them only after stating a cause for the dismissal. Mr. Obama has offered no substantive reason for firing Mr. Walpin. That is unacceptable.

This from FOXNews.com - June 16th, 2009

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/16/obama-accuses-fired-inspector-general-americorps-confused-disoriented/

This from The Washington Times - June 16th, 2009

 http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/16/obamas-walpin-gate-problem/

This is a rush transcript from “Glenn Beck,” June 15, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. - This from FOXNews.com - June 16th, 2009

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,526650,00.html

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