ABOUT INSPECTORS GENERAL

(with a hat tip to Asylum Watch)

About Inspectors General:

...Established by the Inspector General Act of 1978, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) examines all actions of a government agency or military organization. Conducting audits and investigations, either independently or in response to reports of wrongdoing, the OIG ensures that the agency’s operations are in compliance with the law and general established policies of the government. Audits conducted by the OIG are intended to ensure the effectiveness of security procedures, or to discover the possibility of misconduct, waste, fraud, theft, or certain types of criminal activity by individuals or groups related to the agency’s operation. Misuse of agency funds or equipment are often revealed by OIG audits....

Obama's approach to inspectors general:

...Over the past few years Barack Obama has attempted to starve the beast by refusing to fill vacancies in the ranks of Inspectors General as they have arisen. The White House been routinely chided for years over its negligence. Timothy Smith of the Washington Post reported in May of 2011 that "there were 10 IG vacancies, including five at cabinet-level agencies. Four of them had been vacant for more than 3 years."...

America's system of government has many checks and balances. Obama is deliberately thwarting our system of checks and balances and, at the same time, declaring that Americans need not worry about tyranny.

Wake up, America! This is what you've got sitting in the Oval Office:

UPDATE (RELIAPUNDIT):

 THE HILL: State Department watchdog blasted for keeping hooker claims from Congress.“In a letter to the department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) blasts the agency over a February report that was scrubbed of specific references to misconduct allegations that included eight cases of State Department officials sleeping with prostitutes and other misconduct.” 

The Walpin firing, early in Obama’s first term, was intended to intimidate Inspectors General. It appears to have succeeded. 

Posted at 8:27 am by Glenn Reynolds