01 Nov 2013 Daily Caller Covers New National Center Report on Kathleen Sebelius and Enroll America

Word is spreading about the National Center’s new exposé of Kathleen Sebelius’s shady dealings with ObamaCare front-group Enroll America, which was published as part of our GroupSnoop.org series this past Wednesday.

Today, the Daily Caller covered our report.  Columnist Patrick Howley quoted my succinct description of the political policy organization:

“Enroll America is working as a governmental body but outside of the government.  It’s the government’s job to enroll people in the Obamacare exchanges, but Enroll America is doing it as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization,” said Danhof, whose research chronicles links between Enroll America and left-wing groups like the NAACP, Planned Parenthood, National Council of La Raza and the Service Employees International Union, all of which serve on Enroll America’s advisory council.

Staffed with scores of former Obama Administration employees, Enroll America works to sign up as many Americans as possible into the President’s health care takeover.

Our GroupSnoop.org profile details – with footnoted research – the untoward relationship between Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the nonprofit, nongovernmental Enroll America.

In a press release yesterday, I explained that:

When media reports surfaced earlier this year that Sebelius was allegedly shaking down corporations to fund Enroll America’s ObamaCare sign up machine, the Obama Administration issued repeated denials.  However, under mounting pressure, Administration spokesmen admitted that Sebelius did contact the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and H&R Block.  Those solicitations yielded more than $10 million for Enroll America.  After more denials and still more congressional pressure, Sebelius subsequently admitted to contacting HHS-regulated groups Ascension Health, Johnson & Johnson and Kaiser Permanente.

The Government Accountability Office is currently investigating whether Sebelius’s communications with outside organizations on Enroll America’s behalf violated federal law.

First, federal law prohibits governmental regulators such as HHS from soliciting funds from entities that they regulate.  The reasons for this are obvious – with bribery and extortion potential being the most apparent.  To date, Sebelius denies making explicit solicitations from these HHS-regulated groups, but admits to contacting them and talking to them about Enroll America.

However, her propensity for veracity is in doubt after repeatedly denying the initial contacts.

Second, her actions may have violated the very core of America’s constitutional democracy.  Under America’s separation of powers, Congress holds the power of the purse, which includes the power of writing legislation, making budgets and expropriating necessary funds.  The Antideficiency Act prevents the creation of expenditures, outlays or appropriations beyond what Congress has allowed.

It can be argued that Enroll America is acting as an agent of the government in enacting ObamaCare and that Sebelius’s fundraising efforts were a direct violation of the Antideficiency Act.  In short, she may have used her executive branch authority and illegally usurped powers that are the specific purview of the legislature.

On Wednesday, Sebelius answered questions on Capitol Hill about the failed ObamaCare website.  But she still has plenty more to answer for.