Sen. Lamar Alexander (R/Redneck) has an itch to scratch and it's shaped like the word IMPEACHMENT. He's grasping for something -- anything -- to throw at Obama that would possibly stick long enough to impeach him. Clammy Lammy is now sniffing around the Affordable Care Act (again!) and suggests that Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius may have funded it illegally.
Oh yeah, that seems likely, right? HuffPo reports:
"Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) suggested Saturday that Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius may have broken the law by seeking donations from health industry officials to help promote the implementation of President Obama's signature health care law, comparing Sebelius' actions to those in the Iran-Contra scandal.
"'Secretary Sebelius's fundraising for and coordinating with private entities helping to implement the new health care law may be illegal, should cease immediately and should be fully investigated by Congress,' Alexander said in the statement. 'Such private fundraising circumvents the constitutional requirement that only Congress may appropriate funds.'
"Alexander's criticism came on the heels of a Friday Washington Post report detailing Sebelius' appeals to insurance companies. The Post reported:
"Over the past three months, Sebelius has made multiple phone calls to health industry executives, community organizations and church groups and asked that they contribute whatever they can to nonprofit groups that are working to enroll uninsured Americans and increase awareness of the law, according to an HHS official and an industry person familiar with the secretary's activities. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk openly about private discussions. ...
"Many of Sebelius's calls have gone to current supporters of Enroll America, the most prominent nonprofit group working on the health care law's implementation, an HHS official said.
"Alexander said the fundraising efforts could draw legal comparisons to the Iran-Contra affair of the mid-1980s, in which Ronald Reagan aide Oliver North diverted funds from arms sales to Iran to support Nicaraguan rebels, after Congress had cut off funding to the contra.
"'If the Department of Health and Human Services closely coordinates with Enroll America and with other such entities, then the legal analogy with Iran-Contra is strong,' Alexander said.
"Other Republicans were similarly critical of Sebelius' efforts.
"'To solicit funds from health-care executives to help pay for the implementation of the President's $2.6 trillion health spending law is absurd,' Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said in a statement. 'Moving forward, I will be seeking more information from the Administration about these actions to help better understand whether there are conflicts of interest and if it violated federal law.'
"A spokesperson told the Post that Sebelius' requests to insurance companies are within the bounds of her authority as HHS secretary."
Not to be late to the Impeachment Party, Rep. Steve King of Iowa is whipping up the crazies into a frothing teabaggin' frenzy over Benghazi, arguing that it's Bigger than Watergate and Iran-Contra COMBINED! No, that's not enough . . .times TEN!!!!!
(funny, these knuckle-draggers never mention it's bigger than "Paulagate" and the stained blue dress ...)
I LOVE this from the LA Times:
" The latest round of House hearings about the Benghazi incident provides a perfect example of how American politics has been warped and gummed up by bombastic, partisan extremism. A cool, methodical inquiry could well uncover serious mistakes and provide remedies so that future incidents can be thwarted before more American diplomats are killed in the line of duty. But the current generation of Republican lawmakers does not know how to do cool. Hot rhetoric more suited to a Glenn Beck tirade seems to be the only way they know how to communicate.
"A prime example is Rep. Steve King of Iowa. On Wednesday, he said he did not know 'what took place, and who was where doing what and why,' yet he declared, 'I believe that it's a lot bigger than Watergate, and if you link Watergate and Iran-Contra together and multiply it times maybe 10 or so, you're going to get in the zone where Benghazi is.'
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
