Why There are no Honest People in Washington

A few weeks ago, Obama signed $5.7 billion worth of legislation that will triple the size of Americorps. Typical of agencies Obama favors, Americorps is rife with corruption.

Gerald Walpin was the inspector general of Americorps. June 10, he received a phone call from Obama's special counsel for ethics and government reform, Norman Eisen. Eisen's words to Walpin were, "Mr. Walpin, the president wants me to tell you that he really appreciates your service, but it's time to move on. You can either resign, or I'll tell you that we'll have to terminate you." He was given one hour to make his decision.

The position Gerald Walpin held has a special provision to it under the Inspector General Reform Act passed in 2008. This provision says that if a president wants to fire an inspector general, he must first give Congress 30 days' notice explaining his reason for the termination. The co-author of this provision? Senator Barack Obama. But we all know the truism for Washington -- the rules apply to everyone except me. Congress was not notified until after Walpin received the call from Eisen and refused to resign.

So why did Obama want to fire Walpin in the first place? In the course of fulfilling his responsibilities, Walpin initiated an investigation of Sacramento, California Mayor Kevin Johnson. Johnson ran a group called St. Hope which received $850,000 in Americorps funds. Seems Johnson treated the St. Hope staff, funded by this $850,000, as his own personal servants. They drove him to personal appointments, kept his car washed, and ran his personal errands. Walpin decided no more money for St. Hope.

Oops! Johnson is a personal friend of Obama's. Behind Walpin's back, a deal was cut. Johnson would give back some of the money he had misappropriated, and he would be eligible to receive more money. When Walpin found out about the deal, he contacted members of Congress. That's when he got the call firing him.

So, you see, we do have some honest people in Washington. But they don't get to stay there long.

"Will Congress investigate funny business at AmeriCorps?" The Paris News; June 24, 2009; p. 4.