The Common Ills: Violating the Hatch Act is a crime

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Violating the Hatch Act is a crime

As we explained yesterday in the snapshot, the White House is violating the Hatch Act -- again. Apparently, we have a nation of Kathleen Sebeliuses because there are multiple e-mails in the public account from people rushing to defend Barack and justify his actions. You can justify all you want, a crime is a crime. And it is a violation of the Hatch Act for the White House to post campaign speeches at the government website.

Maybe like Kathleen, they can claim that the postings were "extemporaneous"?

This doesn't belong at a White House website -- it is illegal and it is offensive:

I’ve seen too much pain and too much struggle to let this country get hit with another round of top-down economics. The centerpiece of my opponent Governor Romney’s economic plan is a $5 trillion tax cut skewed towards the wealthy. He’s been pitching this plan for almost two years now.
AUDIENCE: Booo --
THE PRESIDENT: No, no -- don’t boo, vote. (Applause.) He stood up on stage during one of the primary debates, proudly promised that he -- that his tax cuts would include the top 1 percent. He promised this. But most of the economists who crunched the numbers said Governor Romney’s plan would either blow up the deficit or raise taxes on the middle class. It’s one or the other. That's how arithmetic works. (Laughter and applause.)
So a few weeks ago, you can start seeing he’s figuring out, well, this isn’t maybe selling that well. (Laughter.) And then, a few nights ago -- (laughter) -- suddenly a guy pretending to be Mitt Romney stood on a stage next to me -- (laughter and applause) -- and said he’s changing his plan. He is just going to pretend it doesn’t exist. What $5 trillion tax cut? (Laughter.) I don’t know anything about a $5 trillion tax cut. Don’t pay attention to that tax cut behind the curtain. (Laughter.) During the debate he said, “There is no economist who can say Mitt Romney’s tax plan adds $5 trillion to the deficit if I say I will not add to the deficit with my tax plan.” (Laughter.)
Thanks for clearing that up. (Laughter.) We’ll take your word for it. (Laughter.)
This doesn't belong:

Obviously, the Governor knows his $5 trillion isn’t too popular, so a few weeks before this election he’s trying to pretend it doesn’t exist, because that’s a lot easier than trying to explain how he’d pay for it without asking middle-class families to pick up the tab. The other night he ruled out asking millionaires and billionaires to pay even a dime more in taxes to help us bring down our deficit. Not a dime. When he was asked what he’d actually do to cut spending, he said he’d go after public television. So for all you moms and kids out there, don’t worry, somebody is finally cracking down on Big Bird -- cracking down on him. (Laughter.) Elmo has made a run for the border.
Governor Romney plans to let Wall Street run wild again, but he’s bringing the hammer down on Sesame Street. (Laughter.)

Or this:

Now, my opponent, he was doing a lot of -- a little tap dance at the debate the other night, trying to wiggle out of stuff he’s been saying for a year; doing, like, a -- it was like “Dancing with the Stars.” (Laughter.) Or maybe it was “Extreme Makeover” -- (laughter) -- debate edition. But no matter what he says, my opponent, he’s a big believer of these top-down economics. He thinks that if we spend another $5 trillion on tax cuts that favor the wealthiest, we get rid of more regulations on Wall Street, all of our problems are going to be solved. Jobs and prosperity will rain down from the sky. (Laughter.) Deficits will magically disappear. We’ll live happily ever after.
Even though he’s been proposing this plan for months now, he’s run into a little trouble explaining how it would work without blowing up the deficit or making it work for middle-class families. The other night, he ruled out asking millionaires and billionaires to pay even a dime more in taxes. He said, no way he was going to close loopholes that are giving big oil companies billions of dollars each year in corporate welfare. Ending tax breaks for corporations that are shipping jobs overseas and profits overseas -- he said he’d never heard of such a thing. Never heard of it. Who knew, he said. He acted shocked, said he needs a new accountant. (Laughter.) His current accountant is doing just fine.
When he was asked how he’d actually cut spending and reduce the deficit, he said he’d go after funding for public television.
AUDIENCE: Booo --
THE PRESIDENT: So for all you moms and kids out there, [. . .]

Note no effort to say stop the booing. This belongs at the White House government website how?

The White House is the people's house. Whomever serves in the White House, serves the people. The White House isn't owned by the Republicans or the Democrats or any political party. It is the people's house and it is degraded when crap like the above is pimped by it. Or take this:

My opponent has been trying to do a two-step and reposition -- (laughter) -- and got an extreme makeover. (Laughter and applause.) But the bottom line is his underlying philosophy is the top-down economics that we’ve seen before. He thinks that if we just spend another $5 trillion on tax cuts that, yes, are skewed towards the wealthiest, if we get rid of more regulations on Wall Street then our problems will be solved. Jobs and prosperity will rain down from the sky. The deficits will magically disappear. We will live happily ever after. (Laughter.)

And there is the bitchy nature of all of it. Barack is such a catty little bitch. Again, from the White House website:

But the fellow on stage last night, he said he loves teachers -- can’t get enough of them. (Laughter.) The Mitt Romney we all know invested in companies that were called "pioneers" of outsourcing jobs to other countries. But the guy on stage last night, he said he’d never heard of tax breaks for companies that shift jobs overseas. Never heard of them. (Laughter.) And he said, if that’s true, he must need a new accountant. So now we know for sure that wasn’t the real Mitt Romney, because the real Mitt Romney is doing just fine with the accountant that he already has. (Laughter.)
Whoever it was that was on stage last night doesn’t want to be held accountable for what the real Mitt Romney has been saying for the last year, and that’s because he knows full well that we don’t want what he’s been selling over the last year. (Applause.) Governor Romney may dance around his positions, he may do a tap dance and a two-step, but if you want to be President, then you owe the American people the truth. (Applause.)

I didn't plan to return to this topic. I thought we'd established the point in the snapshot. I thought the subject was closed -- and hoped it was after the screaming phone calls from Team Barack last night. (After they raged, they were all told the same thing: "Take that crap down from the White House website and quit blaming me.")

It is illegal for those remarks to be up at the White Hosue. The White House is a government site, it is not a campaign site. One of the idiots screaming at me on the phone last night was one of the ones who called me during the Bully Boy Bush years and asked me to look at a Tom DeLay page. Tom DeLay was then in Congress. He's no longer. He had a conviction, I don't think it's been overturned but it may have been. He was a Republican from Texas. And he had this page up at his website -- at his government website -- trashing John Kerry who was then the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. I looked at it, I called back and said, "Yeah, it's a clear violation of the Hatch Act." A complain was filed with DeLay's office and the page came down. It never should have gone up.

Now what a slimy member of Congress breaks the Hatch Act, it is a crime. And it's disgusting. But DeLay was a crook. That's why he was convicted (whether his conviction was overturned or not). So DeLay's criminal behavior isn't surprising.

But we're talking about the White House now. It does not belong to Barack Obama. Or any Bush or any Clinton or go down the list. A person occupies the White House, a public servant, when enough Americans vote to make him or her the president. There will always be another president and whomever is therre for four or eight years is occupying the people's house and is obligated to uphold a certain standard.

What I've quoted above does not belong at a White House website -- not just due to the illegalities but also because it degrdes the nation and it degrades the people's house.

Currently, as Ann pointed out, Sesame Street is asking Barack's campaign to stop airing a commercial with Big Bird. Sesame Street is public television which needs to stay out of partisan politics. The campaign wants to argue this issue and has yet to agree to stop airing the commercial. So clearly, they don't grasp a great deal.

But what's being done at the White House violates the Hatch Act and also betrays the people's trust. Those bitchy little statements do not uplift the nation, do not speak to the higher purpose of America.

If you can't grasp that, I could write 8 million words on this topic and you still wouldn't grasp it because what's going on is your using your partisanship to block out reality.

The following community sites -- plus Cindy Sheehan, The Diane Rehm Show, Adam Kokesh and Antiwar.com -- updated last night and this morning:

Cedric's Big Mix

Focus on driving your own country's elections

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The Daily Jot

THIS JUST IN! THEIR OBESSIONS ARE UNHEALTHY!

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