Toothless Watchdog

Posted on February 8, 2013 by myiq2xu

a Sleeping.Dog_

Obama administration’s multiple Hatch Act violations raise questions

A troubling pattern of illegal campaigning by government officials, including two members of President Obama’s cabinet, is raising questions about the federal oversight agency that monitors such infractions.

The Office of Special Counsel, which investigates federal employees for engaging in partisan politics, previously found that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius did indeed break the law last year when she campaigned for President Obama during an event in North Carolina. But according to new information obtained by watchdog organization Cause of Action, the DNC improperly reimbursed the federal government for the trip.

The DNC fired back at Cause of Action, calling the accusation “utter nonsense.”

“This is utter nonsense being peddled by right-wing partisans who have nothing better to do than dredge up an issue that has long since been resolved,” said DNC spokesperson Brad Woodhouse in a statement.

Sebelius may have also broken the law when she attended a campaign event for Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Brown’s campaign reimbursed HHS for her trip, indicating that the visit was political in nature.

The penalty for Sebelius’s North Carolina violation alone should have been termination, or a 30-day suspension. Instead, the Obama administration chose not to take any action against her.

The Hatch Act of 1939 restricts federal government employees’ from participating in partisan politics in their capacity as public officials. Infractions of the law are investigated by the OSC, which is headed by a presidential appointee.

But the OSC isn’t pursuing Hatch Act violators in the Obama administration as diligently as it should, said a Cause of Action spokesperson.

It’s really no surprise – we saw the same thing in the Bush administration, and with campaign contributions to Obama. Nothing ever happens except sometimes they have to pay back some money.

What is the point of a law if it isn’t enforced?

Hey, look! Something shiny!

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Filed under: Corruption Tagged: |

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40 Responses

  1. myiq2xu, on February 8, 2013 at 11:54 am said:

    How often do you see Wall Street bankers go to jail? How about employers who hire illegal aliens?

    But sell pot to sick people in California and the Feds will come after you.

  2. myiq2xu, on February 8, 2013 at 12:01 pm said:

    Why does my caller ID say “Local Office” when the area code is from across the country?

  3. angienc (D), on February 8, 2013 at 12:02 pm said:

    That little puppy is so cute — I can’t even read the article.

  4. myiq2xu, on February 8, 2013 at 12:06 pm said:

    Remember when we weren’t supposed to vote for her because she was “divisive”?

    • DandyTiger, on February 8, 2013 at 12:28 pm said:

      Don’t worry, she will be again. Say in about 3 years.

    • DeniseVB, on February 8, 2013 at 12:42 pm said:

      …or “polarizing” ?

    • Constance, on February 8, 2013 at 3:13 pm said:

      They are just trying to suck in all the women voters who left the party after the sexism of 2008 and lessen the cognitive dissonance of the liberal women who stick around and make excuses for the sexism. And make a few bucks off Hillary’s name. When the political season heats up they will grind right over Hillary. She doesn’t fit their shaken hot youth image.

  5. ProudMilitaryMom, on February 8, 2013 at 12:17 pm said:

    Here comes the tax on employer sponsored health insurance. I knew when it showed up on the W-2′s this was coming. Well, I knew before that but still- what happened to “You can keep your insurance”?

    One profitable option: making employer-sponsored health benefits taxable, says Roberton Williams, an economist at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center based in Washington. More than 150 million Americans get health insurance through their employers tax-free. But taxing those benefits could reduce federal spending by an average of $150 billion a year over the next five years, according to estimates from the Joint Committee on Taxation. The average health-insurance premium costs about $16,000 a family, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. If those perks suddenly became taxable, some families might try to reduce costs by moving into lower premium plans, which often come with higher deductibles and co-payments, says Williams. The government is already drawing more attention to these benefits by requiring employers to break out how much the company and the employee spent on insurance coverage on W-2 forms, which report annual wage and salary figures.

    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-tax-breaks-chopping-block-180116675.html

  7. yttik, on February 8, 2013 at 12:38 pm said:

    “This is utter nonsense being peddled by right-wing partisans who have nothing better to do than dredge up an issue that has long since been resolved,” said DNC spokesperson Brad Woodhouse in a statement.”

    This comment has been repeated so much I think we need to sell it to defense attorneys. “Your honor, this is just utter nonsense being peddled by right wing partisans! I’m innocent, I tell ya!”

    The thing is, in the olden days when we still had values, ethics meant that even if your accusers were right wing partisans, you still couldn’t break the law.

    • angienc (D), on February 8, 2013 at 1:00 pm said:

      Brad Woodhouse is one of the biggest liars in the OFA/DNC — he pushed the “Romney didn’t pay taxes for 10 years” and the “Romney gave a woman cancer” lies on Twitter harder than anyone else. Every word out of his mouth is pure projection.

    • 49erDweet (D), on February 8, 2013 at 1:05 pm said:

      New Definition: right-wing partisans = anyone capable of distinguishing crap from cake frosting.

  8. DeniseVB, on February 8, 2013 at 12:45 pm said:

    During my “rush walkies” he signed off today hoping the survivors of Winter Storm Nemo will tune in Monday. It made me giggle.

    • angienc (D), on February 8, 2013 at 1:07 pm said:

      I was in the car for 10 minutes when he was on & he was hilarious with the “don’t walk outside — just stay inside! It’s far too dangerous out there” schtick.

  9. angienc (D), on February 8, 2013 at 1:09 pm said:

    This about sums it up when trying to have a “discussion” these days — first comment even writes “no discussion in history has followed these rules.” Morons.

    http://twentytwowords.com/2011/03/15/a-flowchart-to-help-you-determine-if-youre-having-a-rational-discussion/#comment-463447

  10. myiq2xu, on February 8, 2013 at 1:22 pm said:

    This kid is gonna run for office someday:

  11. HELENK, on February 8, 2013 at 1:23 pm said:

    what do you mean there are laws? I thought they were suggestions.

    • Constance, on February 8, 2013 at 3:25 pm said:

      What?! That’s BS. I don’t have any confidence in this law. My health care costs have gone up for less coverage in the last 2 years. I thought I had healthcare covered for life through my employer once I retire. But I am losing confidence in the situation. I have the option to retire coming up and I feel like I need to keep working to ensure healthcare which means some kid who could use a job and would probably do it with more energy and enthusiasm than I have in awhile will not be getting work. I have been insured my whole life and hardly used any benefits but I think I will probably get screwed by this new system. Many of the administrators seem to think women’s health is a frivolous option.

  14. DeniseVB, on February 8, 2013 at 3:18 pm said:

    Why is this child’s death any more important to the Obamas than the 500+ killed in Chicago this past year? RIP sweet child…..

    http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2013/02/08/michelle-attend-funeral-girl-part-inaugural/

    • Constance, on February 8, 2013 at 3:30 pm said:

      So sad to lose this girl. With 500 dead you would think the city leaders would be having a remembrance for all the 2012 dead. I suppose most of the other 500 dead were young men?

  17. DandyTiger, on February 8, 2013 at 3:58 pm said:

    Great comment I’m totally stealing: “I saw a movie where only the police and military had guns. It was called Schindler’s List.”

  18. HELENK, on February 8, 2013 at 4:20 pm said:

    http://www.breitbart.com/Breit…

    holder : backtrack just wants to decide if you are entitled to your second amendment rights.

    can’t we find a place in gitmo for these two? I can not think of two bigger terrorists against this country

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