King Hussein Oversteps His Bounds, Again

Over the weekend, King Hussein canned an Inspector General. It's the IG's job to investigate allegations of waste, fraud and abuse within federal agencies. Obama wrote the following in a statement:

"It is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as Inspectors General. That is no longer the case with regard to this Inspector General."

This doesn't go into any specifics, so lets go deeper. According to Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, a strong advocate of inspectors general, Walpin received a call from the White House Counsel's office on Wednesday evening. Walpin was told that he had one hour to either resign or be fired. Senate sources say Walpin asked why he was being fired and, according to one source, "The answer that was given was that it's just time to move on. The president would like to have someone else in that position." Walpin declined to resign.

This is key because the Inspectors General Reform Act requires that the president give Congress 30 days' notice before dismissing an IG. One of the co-sponsors of the Act was then-Sen. Barack Obama. The Act also requires the president to outline the cause for his decision to remove an IG.

Sen. Grassley wrote a letter to Obama stating, "I was troubled to learn that [Wednesday] night your staff reportedly issued an ultimatum to the AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin that he had one hour to resign or be terminated," Grassley wrote. "As you know, Inspectors General were created by Congress as a means to combat waste, fraud, and abuse and to be independent watchdogs ensuring that federal agencies were held accountable for their actions. Inspectors General were designed to have a dual role reporting to both the President and Congress so that they would be free from undue political pressure. This independence is the hallmark of all Inspectors General and is essential so they may operate independently, without political pressure or interference from agencies attempting to keep their failings from public scrutiny."

Grassley's recollection of events implies that Obama's brownshirts tried to pressure Walpin out of his job without having to go through the 30-day process. It was only when Walpin refused to resign that the White House then notified Congress of the president's intention to fire Walpin. Kudo's to Walpin for forcing Obama's hand, and make him abide by the law that he co-sponsored.

So why the big rush to run Walpin out of town? Could it be that he accused Sacremento , CA Mayor Kevin Johnson (yes the former Phoenix Suns point guard), a prominent Obama supporter of misusing AmeriCorps grant money? Money that he doesn't have to pay back, despite that it may have been pilfered from taxpayers. If it's indeed the case, we have more corruption, cronyism, coverups, and crucifying of the whistleblower coming directly from the White House. It's the Chicago way. (HT Atlas Shrugs):

Atlas Shrugs: Corruption Eruption: Thug In Chief Fires Americorps Inspector General