This week the White House announced $234 million in grants to Americorps and other "service"-oriented nonprofits through the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. The press release reports:
Together with other positions in AmeriCorps VISTA and NCCC, AmeriCorps is on track to support more than 85,000 members this year, the first step towards the Serve America Act goal of 250,000 annual AmeriCorps members by the year 2017.
These numbers don't approach the perhaps hyperbolic remark by candidate Obama in July 2008 that "[w]e've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded [as our military]." But a force of 250,000 isn't insignificant; our Marine Corps numbers 203,000.
Johnson was the likely malfeasor, but by quashing the IG’s inquiry, Obama was the enabler.
--On June 10,2009 Gerald Walpin was fired with one hour's notice as the watchdog of AmeriCorps in violation of a federal law requiring Congress to be given a heads-up 30 days in advance. He then fell victim to a campaign of character assassination.
When pressed for a reason for the sudden and improper dismissal of a federal watchdog, the White House responded with a letter to Sens. Joseph Lieberman and Susan Collins, respectively the chairman and ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, from Norm Eisen, special counsel to President Obama.
...board meeting where the 77-year-old Walpin "was confused, disoriented and unable to answer questions and exhibited behavior that led the board to question his capacity to serve."