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July 4, 2009

'Watchdogs an endangered species in the Age of Obama'

Topics: Political News and commentaries

In the JICYMI department, it's becoming more and more obvious that the Obama administration doesn't like having the questionable affairs of its agencies watched over by Inspector Generals. When large sums of money are being misspent, the administration seems to not want to be scrutinized or questioned. Clearly, a pattern is emerging in which government watchdogs who dare highlight fraud and waste are coming under fire from the Obama "transparency" regime.

The latest Inspector General to be sacked by the administration is Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold:

[...] Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold. The longtime veteran employee was abruptly "retired" this month--just as the government-subsidized rail service faces mounting complaints about its meddling in financial audits and probes.

Question the timing? Hell, yes.

On June 18, Weiderhold met with Amtrak officials to discuss the results of an independent report by the Washington, D.C., law firm Willkie, Farr and Gallagher. The 94-page report has been made publicly available through the office of whistleblower advocate Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. It concluded that the "independence and effectiveness" of the Amtrak inspector general's office "are being substantially impaired" by the agency's Law Department.

Amtrak bosses have effectively gagged their budgetary watchdogs from communicating with Congress without pre-approval; required that all Amtrak documents be "pre-screened" (and in some cases redacted) before being turned over to the inspector general's office; and taken control of the inspector general's $5 million portion of federal stimulus spending.

[...] The transparent sacking comes just as Amtrak is awash in more than $1.3 billion in new federal stimulus money. It comes on the heels of the unceremonious dismissal of Gerald Walpin, the AmeriCorps inspector general who dared to probe financial shenanigans by Obama cronies. (See "Obama's AmeriCrooks and Cronies Scandal," June 17, 2009.) And it comes on the heels of the stifling of veteran Environmental Protection Agency employee Alan Carlin, the researcher who dared to question the Obama administration's conventional wisdom on global warming. (See "EPA's Game of Global Warming Hide-and-Seek," June 26, 2009.)

Question the timing? You betcha.

So, who is behind the railroading of the Amtrak inspector general? As with the story of the AmeriCorps firing, which has First Lady Michelle Obama's fingerprints on it, the Amtrak case smells like cronyism. Investigative journalist Robert Stacy McCain, who has watchdogged the watchdog stories, noted last week that Amtrak's vice president and general counsel is Eleanor Acheson.

Acheson, an old friend of Hillary Clinton, also has close ties to Vice President Joe "Mr. Amtrak" Biden. She hired Biden's nominations counsel Jonathan Meyer to serve as her deputy general counsel. The two had also worked together in the Clinton Justice Department. Meyer called his hiring at Amtrak by Acheson a "happy coincidence," according to Legal Times. (In another "happy coincidence," Biden's lobbyist son, Hunter, sits on Amtrak's board of directors.) Acheson oversees the very Law Department accused of interfering repeatedly with the taxpayer advocates in the inspector general's office.

Read it all ...

Hat -tip - Sybil

Related:
Besides Walpin - 3 Other IG Firings Being Questioned
More Inspector Generals Under Fire From Obama Administration
Can we call it Walpin-gate yet?

Posted by Richard at July 4, 2009 7:38 AM

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