Posted on 06/18/2009 11:54:03 AM PDT by MaestroLC
A top White House lawyer called the firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin an act of "political courage," according to House Republican aides who were in a meeting with the lawyer Wednesday.
Norman Eisen, who is the White House Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform, met with staffers for Rep. Darrell Issa, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday. Eisen, along with another White House staffer who accompanied him, "wanted to talk broadly about inspectors general," says a GOP aide familiar with what went on at the meeting. "When we pressed them on specific questions and documents, they said they weren't prepared to give us information on that."
In one exchange, according to the GOP aide, the White House lawyers explained that inspector general Walpin was not working well with the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, and the administration believed that IGs should work well with the leadership of their agencies. Eisen said he knew that removing Walpin might be seen as an action that would raise questions. "But [Eisen] said that what they did in trying to fix the situation was an act of political courage -- and 'political courage' is the phrase they used," says the aide.
Republicans, along with a few Democrats, have been concerned about the White House's methods in removing Walpin. The law requires the president to give Congress 30 days' notice, plus the cause for the firing of an inspector general. In Walpin's case, the White House called Walpin out of the blue, gave him one hour either to resign or be fired, and only later notified Congress, and then without giving any cause for its action. Only later, after a lone Democrat, Sen. Claire McCaskill, said the White House "failed to follow the proper procedure" and
Why should an independent inspector get along with the people he is supposed to inspect? Are these people stupid?
-PJ
McCaskill changed her story, says it’s all okay now. Somebody told her where her political career was going if she didn’t get in line.
We are coming, We the People are coming, we are coming for you......
I don't think that argument will get far, in this case. After early missteps, missteps that would be fatal if maintained, the rhetoric is now "He's suspended with pay for 30 days, after which he will be removed."
A crime by any other name would smell just as bad.
I agree. That's the misstep I was referring to. But he wasn't officially removed, and that's the event named in the statute. I think there are good arguments that the 30 day suspension pending removal is illegal. Still, I think there is more heat in the "why" than in the effective absence of notice. At this point, I see the removal as without valid cause.
...this is even more obnoxious and shameless than all of those news stories about how everyone out of work is having the times of their lives....
You mean she has no convictions? LOL!
Have you seen this one?
ping
Boy...the spin is on..grab the popcorn and fire up the margarita machines...LOL!!
What next? Obama allowing Iran and NK to fire off nuclear weapons into the US is an ‘Act of Political Courage’?
It seem like Obama is trying to do so many outrageous things at once that, even if they do appear in the news, they disappear quickly as the next outrage appears.
That's EXACTLY the tactic, and it's no accident.
Read up on the Cloward - Piven Strategy. Overloading everyone with impossible demands is one of the core principles. The goal is to make everything fall apart so the Progressives can sweep in and take over.
Well......they did “win” (/snigger).
George Santayana: Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
On April 28, 1945, Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci, were arrested by Italian partisans. Walter Audisio (1909-1973), who was once pardoned by Mussolini for a jail term in 1934, took custody of Mussolini. Mussolini, realizing he was going to killed, opened up his shirt and asked to be shot in the chest. Audisio complied and attempted to shoot the pair with an Italian submachine gun, but it would not fire. He then pulled out an Italian pistol and again it would not fire. In desperation he grabbed a French weapon, a MAS 7.65, from a fellow partisan and killed them both. Their bodies were strung upside down the next day for all to see.
TRAITORS BEWARE!
You do realize that I was being sarcastic, right? :-)
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