The Top
Twenty Obama Administration Scandals
by KEITH
KOFFLER on MAY 31, 2013, 9:54 AM
It’s easy to forget that the three scandals currently swirling
about President Obama are just the latest episodes of potential misdoings by
the scandal-plagued Obama administration.
As a refresher, here is a full list of the administration’s most
egregious scandals.
1. IRS targets Obama’s enemies: The IRS
targeted conservative and pro-Israel groups prior to the 2012 election.
Questions are being raised about why this occurred, who ordered it, whether
there was any White House involvement and whether there was an initial effort
to hide who knew about the targeting and when.
2. Benghazi: This is actually three scandals
in one:
§ The failure of
administration to protect the Benghazi mission.
§ The changes made to
the talking points in order to suggest the attack was motivated by an
anti-Muslim video
§ The refusal of the
White House to say what President Obama did the night of the attack
3. Watching the AP: The Justice Department
performed a massive cull of Associated Press reporters’ phone records as part
of a leak investigation.
4. Rosengate: The Justice Department
suggested that Fox News reporter James Rosen is a criminal for reporting about
classified information and subsequently monitored his phones and emails.
5. Potential Holder perjury I: Attorney General Eric Holder
told Congress he had never been associated with “potential prosecution” of
a journalist for perjury when in fact he signed the affidavit that termed Rosen
a potential criminal.
6. The ATF “Fast and Furious” scheme: Allowed
weapons from the U.S. to “walk” across the border into the hands of Mexican
drug dealers. The ATF lost track of hundreds of firearms, many of which
were used in crimes, including the December 2010 killing of Border Patrol Agent
Brian Terry.
7. Potential Holder Perjury II: Holder told
Congress in May 2011 that he had just recently heard about the Fast and Furious
gun walking scheme when there is evidence he may have known much earlier.
8. Sebelius demands payment: HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
solicited donations from companies HHS might regulate. The money would be used
to help her sign up uninsured Americans for ObamaCare.
9. The Pigford scandal: An Agriculture Department
effort that started as an attempt to compensate black farmers who had been
discriminated against by the agency but evolved into a gravy train delivering
several billion dollars in cash to thousands of additional minority and female
farmers who probably didn’t face discrimination.
10. GSA gone wild: The General Services
Administration in 2010 held an $823,000 training conference in Las Vegas,
featuring a clown and a mind readers. Resulted in the resignation of the GSA
administrator.
11. Veterans Affairs in Disney World: The agency
wasted more than $6 million on two conferences in Orlando. An assistant
secretary was fired.
12. Sebelius violates the Hatch Act: A U.S.
special counsel determined that Sebelius violated the Hatch Act when she
made “extemporaneous partisan remarks” during a speech in her official
capacity last year. During the remarks, Sebelius called for the election of the
Democratic candidate for governor of North Carolina.
13. Solyndra: Republicans charged the Obama
administration funded and promoted its poster boy for green energy despite
warning signs the company was headed for bankruptcy. The administration
also allegedly pressed Solyndra to delay layoff announcements until after the
2010 midterm elections.
14. AKA Lisa Jackson: Former EPA Administrator Lisa
Jackson used the name “Richard Windsor” when corresponding by email with other
government officials, drawing charges she was trying to evade scrutiny.
15. The New Black Panthers: The Justice Department was
accused of using a racial double standard in failing to pursue a voter
intimidation case against Black Panthers who appeared to be menacing voters at
a polling place in 2008 in Philadelphia.
16. Waging war all by myself: Obama may have violated the
Constitution and both the letter and the spirit of the War Powers Resolution by
attacking Libya without Congressional approval.
17. Biden bullies the press: Vice President Biden’s office
has repeatedly interfered with coverage, including forcing a reporter to wait
in a closet, making a reporter delete photos, and editing pool reports.
18. AKPD not A-OK: The administration paid
millions to the former firm of then-White House adviser David
Axelrod, AKPD Message and Media, to promote passage of Obamacare. Some
questioned whether the firm was hired to help pay Axelrod $2 million AKPD owed
him.
19. Sestak, we’ll take care of you: Former White
House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel used Bill Clinton as an intermediary to probe
whether former Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) would accept a prominent, unpaid White
House advisory position in exchange for dropping out of the 2010 primary
against former Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.).
20. I’ll pass my own laws: Obama has repeatedly
been accused of making end runs around Congress by deciding which laws to
enforce, including the decision not to deport illegal immigrants who may have
been allowed to stay in the United States had Congress passed the “Dream Act.”
