Obama administration HHS head K. Sebelius violates Hatch act

[monovillage]

Health and Human Services Secretary violated the Hatch act when she made partisan remarks when she was delivering a speech in her official capacity. They had to reimburse the U.S. Treasury for costs and expenses. The Office of Special Council sent their findings to the President.
http://whistlewatch.org/2012/09/osc-finds-hhs-secretary-sebelius-violated-hatch-act/

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/09/12/investigators-sebelius-illegally-campaigned-on-taxpayers-dime/

The Obama administration’s decision to allow cabinet secretaries such as Sebelius to speak at events sponsored by large Democratic electioneering groups has raised other Hatch Act concerns.

Dirty politics is dirty and they're using taxpayer money to do it. Big surprise. Who was it that said he'd have the most transparent administration ever?

 

[DominionSeraph]

Dirty politics is dirty and they're using taxpayer money to do it. Big surprise. Who was it that said he'd have the most transparent administration ever?

So you're saying the Office of Special Counsel acted inappropriately and is hiding something?

When Democrats are in power, the watchdogs watch. When Republicans are...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Office_of_Special_Counsel

On June 26, 2003, President George W. Bush nominated Scott J. Bloch for the position of Special Counsel at the Office of Special Counsel; he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 9, 2003. On January 5, 2004, he was sworn in to serve a five-year term.[6] Bloch was a lightning rod for controversy. His first major actions as head of the Office were to choose as deputy a lawyer who had publicly taken a position against the "homosexual agenda," and to hire young lawyers from Ave Maria School of Law, the conservative school founded by Domino's Pizza billionaire Tom Monaghan.[7]
On May 6, 2008, the Federal Bureau of Investigation served warrants on Special Counsel offices in Washington D.C. and in Texas, as well as Mr. Bloch's home, seizing computers. It was alleged that when Bloch's refusal to follow up on cases of discrimination based on sexual orientation was leaked to the press, he retaliated against career employees by creating a field office in Detroit. He was removed as Special Counsel on October 23, 2008. He was subsequently found to have obstructed the investigation by removing material from his computer.[8] He pled guilty to criminal contempt of Congress but then successfully withdrew his plea upon learning that he would be sentenced to prison.
During the Bloch era, the OSC was criticized for (1) very rarely recognizing legitimate whistleblowers, typically only when the whistleblower had already prevailed elsewhere, (2) taking too long to investigate meritorious cases, (3) using a conservative litmus test in hiring, (4) discouraging federal whistleblowers from using their legal protections, and (5) generally siding with the federal administration instead of with the whistleblowers it was supposed to protect

 

[monovillage]

So you're saying the Office of Special Counsel acted inappropriately and is hiding something?

When Democrats are in power, the watchdogs watch. When Republicans are...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Office_of_Special_Counsel

I know it's difficult for special people like you to read the news. Maybe your mother or father can help you with it. I hate to see someone like you depending on the kindness of strangers for explanations.

 

[DominionSeraph]

I know it's difficult for special people like you to read the news.

The Office of Special Counsel is a government agency headed by an Obama appointee. The is an example of them doing their job. The infraction by the HHR was ridiculously minor yet that is all that will even fit in your little mind -- you couldn't even follow me through the little jump from "government agency 1" to "government agency 2".

You are amazingly stupid.
This is why I do little but make fun of you conservatards. You can't keep up, so why argue?

 

[DominionSeraph]

double Kuchiki.

 

[Jhhnn]

Too bad that monovillage can't get his daily dose of faux outrage in suppository form... Nobody would need to tell him what to do with it.

 

[cybrsage]

Dirty politics is dirty and they're using taxpayer money to do it. Big surprise. Who was it that said he'd have the most transparent administration ever?

You have to remember, Obama only says what others tell him to say on his teleprompter. He read "transparent" but meant "opaque". Just another broken promise in a long line of them.

 

[Thump553]

The GOP shills seem to have, yet again, conveniently omitted some rather relevant facts when spouting their outrage.

1) Ms. Sebielus was giving an official speech on official business when she gave an off the cuff endorsement of President Obama and a local Dem-admitted

2) The Office of Special Counsel brought this technical violation of the Hatch Act to Ms. Sebielus' attention and she immediately reclassified the ENTIRE trip from official to personal/political and reimbursed the government for ALL expenses related to the trip.

3) For reasons unspecified (my guess-an overabundance of caution not to give the appearance of favoritism) the Office of Special Counsel has not yet withdrawn the charge.

Monovillage, "I'm gone" cybrsage, and the other chorus have chosen to elevate the no harm, no foul technical violation to the equivalent of Watergate or Contragate. Gee, I wonder where their enthusiasm for this comes from? An overwhelming love the Hatch Act?

As an aside, I wonder if the Hatch Act would survive constitutional challenge if a case involving a GOP was brought to the present Supreme Court? I certainly wouldn't count on it, the Hatch Act does, at its core, restrict free political speech.

 

[cybrsage]

Hmmm...lets use your logic and see if it works to get rid of the charges:

A teacher stands infront of a senior class and tells them all that Obama is who they should vote for and that they should not vote for Romney. When confronted with it, she pays back the hourly wage for the time she said those remarks and claims she was not their teacher at that exact moment due to not being paid.

Your logic says she did nothing wrong. Your logic fails. This is normal from someone who wears his partisanship on his sleeve.

 

[jackstar7]

Hmmm...lets use your logic and see if it works to get rid of the charges:

A teacher stands infront of a senior class and tells them all that Obama is who they should vote for and that they should not vote for Romney. When confronted with it, she pays back the hourly wage for the time she said those remarks and claims she was not their teacher at that exact moment due to not being paid.

Your logic says she did nothing wrong. Your logic fails. This is normal from someone who wears his partisanship on his sleeve.

Awww. The enemy continues to be context.

But hey, keep fighting! Those windmills won't stand a chance!

 

[diesbudt]

The GOP shills seem to have, yet again, conveniently omitted some rather relevant facts when spouting their outrage.

1) Ms. Sebielus was giving an official speech on official business when she gavean off the cuff endorsement of President Obama and a local Dem-admitted

2) The Office of Special Counsel brought this technical violation of the Hatch Act to Ms. Sebielus' attention and she immediately reclassified the ENTIRE trip from official to personal/political and reimbursed the government for ALL expenses related to the trip.

3) For reasons unspecified (my guess-an overabundance of caution not to give the appearance of favoritism) the Office of Special Counsel has not yet withdrawn the charge.

Monovillage, "I'm gone" cybrsage, and the other chorus have chosen to elevate the no harm, no foul technical violation to the equivalent of Watergate or Contragate. Gee, I wonder where their enthusiasm for this comes from? An overwhelming love the Hatch Act?

As an aside, I wonder if the Hatch Act would survive constitutional challenge if a case involving a GOP was brought to the present Supreme Court? I certainly wouldn't count on it, the Hatch Act does, at its core, restrict free political speech.

Because only the GOP backers on this sight do this amirite? Both sides do this. 9/10 articles either side posts on this forum is missing information taht would hurt their argument. It is how politics are played.

 

[dawheat]

Seems like the checks and balances that should exist in government actually worked once, for a change.

Not sure what the furor is all about. The fact that this all happened before and without public outrage is a good and positive sign.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Health and Human Services Secretary violated the Hatch act when she made partisan remarks when she was delivering a speech in her official capacity. They had to reimburse the U.S. Treasury for costs and expenses. The Office of Special Council sent their findings to the President.
http://whistlewatch.org/2012/09/osc-finds-hhs-secretary-sebelius-violated-hatch-act/

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/09/12/investigators-sebelius-illegally-campaigned-on-taxpayers-dime/



Dirty politics is dirty and they're using taxpayer money to do it. Big surprise. Who was it that said he'd have the most transparent administration ever?

So she did something wrong, admitted it, and corrected the problem?

So what is your problem?

Looks like everyone worked as intended.....another troll fail?

 

[Ryan]

Dirty politics is dirty and they're using taxpayer money to do it. Big surprise. Who was it that said he'd have the most transparent administration ever?

Well, they aren't currently "using" tax payer money if they were reimbursed already.

 

[Vic Vega]

The GOP shills seem to have, yet again, conveniently omitted some rather relevant facts when spouting their outrage.

1) Ms. Sebielus was giving an official speech on official business when she gavean off the cuff endorsement of President Obama and a local Dem-admitted

2) The Office of Special Counsel brought this technical violation of the Hatch Act to Ms. Sebielus' attention and she immediately reclassified the ENTIRE trip from official to personal/political and reimbursed the government for ALL expenses related to the trip.

What does the GOP or any part have to do with this. Are you saying Democrats shouldn't be angry she broke the law and only corrected it AFTER she was outed by someone who was paying attention.

This is not a Democrat or Republican issue.

 

[Ryan]

What does the GOP or any part have to do with this. Are you saying Democrats shouldn't be angry she broke the law and only corrected it AFTER she was outed by someone who was paying attention.

This is not a Democrat or Republican issue.

Big fucking deal. This is the political equivalent to getting a speeding ticket. She paid for her off the cuff remarks, move the fuck on.

 

[sunzt]

So she did something wrong, admitted it, and corrected the problem?

So what is your problem?

Looks like everyone worked as intended.....another troll fail?

404 outrage not found.

 

[monovillage]

Damn, I should have remembered that when a Democrat is caught breaking the law and fined massive amounts of money that it's just business as usual.

 

[jackstar7]

She was fined though... so what more do you want to see happen? Congressional hearings?

It ain't that she's a Democrat. It's that she's a cabinet member and not a particularly high-profile post.

What do you want?

 

[Incorruptible]

Not surprised by this disgusting human being, she should be fired

 

[monovillage]

She was fined though... so what more do you want to see happen? Congressional hearings?

It ain't that she's a Democrat. It's that she's a cabinet member and not a particularly high-profile post.

What do you want?

What happened is exactly what should have happened and what I wanted to happen. An important member of the cabinet is caught using her official job to make partisan political remarks in violation of the Hatch Act. She gets called on it and they have to pay the costs that would normally be carried by the taxpayers. It's why I posted it, it's an example of checks and balances working as they should and reining in a Democrat for stepping over the line.

 

[monovillage]

Not surprised by this disgusting human being, she should be fired

You disgust me.

 

[sunzt]

What happened is exactly what should have happened and what I wanted to happen. An important member of the cabinet is caught using her official job to make partisan political remarks in violation of the Hatch Act. She gets called on it and they have to pay the costs that would normally be carried by the taxpayers. It's why I posted it, it's an example of checks and balances working as they should and reining in a Democrat for stepping over the line.

great

Damn, I should have remembered that when a Democrat is caught breaking the law and fined massive amounts of money that it's just business as usual.

Apparently you're trying to do more than just posting it as an example of checks and balances working as they should. No one said it was ok for her to do it. She took responsibility and adhered to the penalties. What more do you want? Are you looking for tea party style hatred with us carrying pitchforks and torches to slander her?

 

[Budmantom]

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound?

 

[monovillage]

great

Apparently you're trying to do more than just posting it as an example of checks and balances working as they should. No one said it was ok for her to do it. She took responsibility and adhered to the penalties. What more do you want? Are you looking for tea party style hatred with us carrying pitchforks and torches to slander her?

No, I was pointing out she broke the law. Hatred, mob violence and slander not found, what you did find was a news story pointing out the HHS Secretary breaking the law.