D.C. Officials Stole $110K From Children's Program To Fund 2009 Presidential Inaugural Ball

     Neil S. Rodgers, a former D.C. government official, was sentenced Tuesday for his role in the misappropriation of $110,000 earmarked for D.C.'s Children at Risk and Drug Prevention Fund to cover a deficit for the 51st State Inaugural Ball for President Obama's inauguration in 2009. Rodgers, found guilty of fraud in March, was sentenced to 36 days (served on weekends) plus two years of probation. Rodgers must also repay the entire $110,000 as restitution for his crime.
     In 2008, as arrangements were underway for inauguration celebrations, the Washington City Paper reported on former Council Member Harry Thomas, Jr.'s early plans for the 51st State Inaugural Ball, noting that "there would have to be a plan to raise funds for the event, and security and cleanup concerns would also have to dealt with. Thomas says all that will be taken care of; he says he plans to seek private donations to cover the difference between the event's cost and the revenues raised by the $51 ticket cost." Donations, however, came up short. Justice Department officials described Rodgers's role in the misappropriation scheme in a Tuesday press release:

            “Neil Rodgers worked with former D.C. Council member Harry Thomas to perpetrate a fraud that diverted money from at-risk children to throw a black-tie ball for adults,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Cohen. “His conviction at trial brings to seven the number of people convicted as part of Harry Thomas’s chronic abuse of the public trust.  Neil Rodgers refused to acknowledge that there was anything wrong in the cavalier way that he and Harry Thomas stole from a program for children. He now will be required to pay back every penny he stole from the children of the District. Those children, who were most harmed by this, deserve better from our public officials.” 

            “Today, Mr. Rodgers accepted his penalty for illegally steering money meant to fund District of Columbia government programs to pay for a Presidential inauguration party,” said Assistant Director in Charge McCabe. “The FBI and our partners at the IRS have worked countless hours to investigate the trail of money that was intended to help youth in the District and how the corrupt actions of a public servant resulted in a loss to the community he served.”

          Thomas and Rodgers mischaracterized the ball as a youth event to convince the private-public partnership organization in charge of funding the ball to cover the approximate $100,000 shortfall. That organization used the Children at Risk and Drug Prevention Fund to pay off creditors. The conspirators used "multiple copies of budgets and supporting narratives" to fool the organization into approving use of that fund to pay the remaining bills.
     Six others have already pled guilty in cases involving the activities of Thomas, who himself pled guilty to misuse of $375,000 in taxpayer dollars intended for arts and youth programs. Thomas was forced to resign his seat and served 38-months in prison.
     According to the Washington City Paper, Thomas said of the ball's location at the John A. Wilson Building, the D.C. government seat, "Why not use the people's building for a people's purpose?" But in the end, both Thomas and Rodgers used the people's money for their own purposes, a decision that ultimately landed both men in jail.


Note: A version of this post first appeared at The Weekly Standard.

The Obama Administration on Governing: Brains Optional

    There's an old joke that says if aliens are seeking for signs of intelligent life on earth, let's hope they don't start in the nation's capital. But to hear this White House tell it, much of the work in DC could be accomplished anyway without the benefits of brains. Here are just some examples of administration members' thoughts on the subject from the White House website:

• “Making Title IX as strong as possible is a no-brainer,” said Vice President Biden.
• So it is a no-brainer for Congress to do what it's supposed to do: Pass transportation funding.
• The President then detoured briefly from his prepared remarks, explaining why it's a “no-brainer” for Congress to pass the bill [on student loan debt.]
• Providing people with health care, that should be a no-brainer.  Giving people a chance to get health care should be a no-brainer.
• So you would think this [minimum wage increase] would be a no-brainer. Politically, you'd think that folks would be rushing to do this.
• During the speech, the President called on Congress to pass a bill that makes clear that current insider trading laws apply to Members of Congress... This is a no-brainer.
• And your neighboring states have made that decision because they look at it and they say, this is a no-brainer, why would not -- why would we not want to take advantage of this [expansion of Medicaid coverage.]
• This kind of waste is just unacceptable. Particularly at a time when we’re facing tough decisions about reducing our deficit, it's a no-brainer to stop spending taxpayer dollars on things that benefit nobody. [Vice President's Campaign to Cut Waste]
• It’s a plan [to help responsible homeowners refinance their mortgages] that we know will work.  It has the support of independent, nonpartisan economists and leaders across the housing industry.  It’s a no-brainer that should have passed easily.
• Do the right thing.  It is a no-brainer.  Let’s get it done.  Let’s pass these [Bush] tax cuts.
• Congress should renew the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.  Whether you are a conservative or a liberal, Democrat or Republican, this is a no-brainer.
• It should be a no brainer. The United States has been subsidizing the oil industry for a century. President Obama believes that's long enough.
• Ensuring paycheck fairness for women should be a no brainer. And they need to pass that bill.
• Green consumer products can only become mainstream if businesses make the right environmental choice a financial no-brainer...
• This sounds like common sense.  It should be a no-brainer.  It just doesn’t happen in this country.  And if we can invest to create access to high-speed broadband, we open up a new world of educational opportunity.
• That should be a no-brainer.  That should be a bipartisan no-brainer to make sure that we've got the best possible nursing staffs in the country.
• We all agree on prohibiting insurance companies from arbitrarily cancelling [sic] insurance policies.  That's a no-brainer; there's strong agreement on both sides of the aisle there.

The above is by no means a comprehensive list. But if this much can be accomplished sans grey matter, maybe there's hope in Washington for one of the White House's favorite characters who is trotted out frequently in arguments against Republican policies. And no trip to Oz will be required.

Washington State Dems: Federal Shutdown Takes Food From Half of Babies in Our State

    In an attempt to dramatize the effects of the federal government shutdown, Washington State Democrats may have revealed more about their state, and about the state of the economy under President Obama than they intended.  The Advance, official blog of the Washington State House Democrats, posted the following on Thursday:

Federal shutdown could take food from half the babies in Washington state 

Half of Washington state’s babies—and one third of all pregnant women in the state—rely on the Women, Infant and Children nutrition program. 

The program is run by the state, but the funding comes from the federal government. Which is shut down. 

Now the money that feeds those pregnant women, babies and young children will run out in a matter of days, according to the state Department of Health.... 

Almost half of all babies, one third of pregnant women, and one quarter of children under five in Washington State are on the WIC Program. 

In Washington State, WIC reaches over 195,000 women, infants, and children in 205 clinics each month and provides services to over 315,000 individuals each year. 

WIC is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture and operated by the Washington State Department of Health.

    Democrats hold eight of the twelve seats that make up Washington's federal congressional delegation, and eight of nine elected statewide offices in the state are held by Democrats.  The governor of Washington State, Jay Inlsee, is a Democrat and the party holds majorities in both houses of the state legislature.


Note: A version of this article first appeared at The Weekly Standard.

For $221k, July 4th Fireworks Show on National Mall in Washington Will Go On

    The show will go on.  Sequestration may have cost Washington D.C. tourists a chance to tour the White House, but the Independence Day fireworks will go off as planned.  A contract was awarded today to Garden State Fireworks of Millington, NJ for $221,819.77.  The listing for bids on the typically business-like fbo.gov website contained this somewhat colorful solicitation:

Provide supervision, labor, materials, supplies and equipment necessary to present an innovative, bounteous, dynamic and attractive fireworks display for Independence Day on the Grounds of the Washington Monument, Washington, D.C. on July 4, 2013.

    The National Park Service that puts on the fireworks show each year offers several suggestions for enjoying the show which is scheduled to begin at 9:10 on the evening of the 4th:

• Consider wearing hearing protection. These fireworks are BIG and LOUD.
• Consider wearing eye protection to protect yourself from falling debris.
• Consider not bringing pets.

Note: This article first appeared at The Weekly Standard.

Change

    In an interview with Univision last week, President Obama made a startling admission (via FoxNews):

Four years after Barack Obama campaigned on a promise of "hope and change," he now is admitting that a president isn't able to change Washington "from the inside" -- an admission that rival Mitt Romney promptly blasted as "the white flag of surrender."
President Obama, at a forum Thursday hosted by the Spanish-language TV channel Univision, lamented the challenge of shaking up the status quo in the capital.
"The fact that we haven't been able to change the tone in Washington is disappointing," Obama said, in response to a question about his greatest failure. "The most important lesson I've learned is you can't change Washington from the inside. You can only change it from the outside."

    Ever since that interview, instead of acknowledging the gaffe, the president has doubled down on his framing of the statement:

    In many ways, this "change comes from the outside" sentiment embodies the president's method of governance.  His modus operandi is decidedly characterized by imposition.  Some in society don't have health insurance?  Make everyone buy it!  Children aren't eating enough healthy foods?  Force every public school cafeteria to conform to strict calorie standards.  Not enough people are buying electric cars?  Give enormous tax credits that force everyone to subsidize those who do buy them.

    The now infamous 2001 interview that Barack Obama did with Chicago Public Radio contains the essence of this philosophy [emphasis mine]:

The Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society. To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution, at least as it’s been interpreted, and the Warren Court interpreted in the same way, that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can’t do to you. Says what the federal government can’t do to you, but doesn’t say what the federal government or state government must do on your behalf.

    Change from the inside is apparently too hard to control and takes too long.  Short term satisfaction can be achieved through raw power rather than persuasion.  But it is rare to hear someone so publicly and blatantly disparage what is almost a truism about the superiority of internal versus external change.

Not all cliches are bad, and although it sounds trite, true and lasting change must come from the inside.  This goes for Washington and politics as well.  Our founders often warned that our Constitution and system of government would only function well under people of character.  Until the people in politics and Washington change, no amount of Hope and Change from the outside will make a difference.