Did Sebelius lie in testimony to Congress?: Her testimony directly contradicts the testimony of contractors

Darrell Issa certainly believes that this is the case, and at least from what I can see Sebelius' testimony contradicts what the contractor directly testified happened.  Someone got this discussion very wrong.  From Politico:

Issa wrote that Sebelius misrepresented that the contractor MITRE was conducting ongoing security testing on HealthCare.gov and that it had not flagged security risks before the website’s launch. He also wrote that the company said it was not asked whether the launch should proceed, while Sebelius testified that it “had made recommendations to CMS, as is required.”

“Providing false or misleading testimony to Congress is a serious matter,” Issa wrote, and asked Sebelius to “correct the record.” . . . .

Obama thinks that IRS and Benghazi scandals are "phony", implies all the other ones are phony also

From yesterday's press briefing at the White House by Jay Carney:

Mr. Knoller. 

Q    Jay, in his speech again yesterday, President Obama mentioned the phony scandals that are part of an endless parade of distractions.  Can you tell us what phony scandals he’s talking about? 

MR. CARNEY:  I think we all remember a few weeks ago when Washington was consumed with a variety of issues that, while in some cases significant, there was an effort underway to turn them into partisan scandals.  I don’t think anybody here would doubt that.  And what we’ve seen as time has passed and more facts have become known -- whether it’s about the attacks in Benghazi and the talking points, or revelations about conduct at the IRS -- that attempts to turn this into a scandal have failed. 

And when it comes to the IRS, as I said the other morning, the President made very clear that he will -- that he wants the new leadership there to take action to correct improper conduct, and that is happening and he expects results. 

What some in Congress have failed to do despite many attempts is to provide any evidence -- because there is none -- that that activity was in any way known by, or directed by, the White House, or was even partisan or political.  As testimony has shown that I’ve seen produced publicly in the press -- although not by the Republican chairman of the committee -- self-identified Republicans who participated in the reviews of these applications for tax-exempt status clearly denied that there was any -- and this is just them saying this -- that there was any partisan or political motivation to what they were doing. 

That doesn't excuse the conduct, doesn't say that it’s the right thing to do.  It means that we have to address poor performance as poor performance, and reject efforts to turn it into yet another partisan political football. 

And I think our views -- and I would wax poetic on it if you want -- our views on the Benghazi issue are well known, and I think that other issues fall into that. 

Q    So you mentioned two -- the IRS and Benghazi. 

MR. CARNEY:  Well, I’m not going to catalogue -- again, I think there was a period where there was -- a lot more energy and focus was paid by some in Congress as well as in the media on issues that, while important, are not of the highest priority to the American people, and they were not scandals. . . .

Apparently all the other four or so recent scandals are also phony (see here, here, and here), but they don't even rate being mentioned.

The Obama administration scandal that is being ignored, Kathleen Sebelius pressured firms she regulated for donations

The Obama administration is arguing that Sebelius' behavior was perfectly legal.  After all, who would be concerned about government officials calling up and pressuring the companies that they regulate for donations?  Fortunately, Republicans are giving this some attention.  From Fox News:

Congressional Republicans on Thursday escalated their call for an independent investigation into whether Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius broke the law when she sought donations from private companies for an independent ObamaCare project.  

Three top Senate Republicans wrote a letter to the HHS inspector general asking his office to launch a probe. It follows a previous GOP call for a review by another internal watchdog, the Government Accountability Office.  

At issue is Sebelius' effort to solicit donations and other assistance from various charities and executives for a nonprofit group that is helping sign up people for benefits under the federal health care overhaul.  

HHS argues the practice was legal, since the Public Health Services Act allows a secretary to seek funding for nonprofits operating in public health.  . . .

Obama's fourth scandal: Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius using her position to force those she regulates to give money to Obama campaign

Using the threat of regulation to force those being regulated to give money to Obama sure sounds like thuggish behavior.  I suppose that Obama will again claim ignorance of this, but Sebelius has gotten in trouble before on these issues.  He might claim outrage, but he didn't publicly reprimand her earlier.  From The Hill newspaper:

House Republicans have widened their probe of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius by asking the country's largest health insurers for information on her fundraising for a nonprofit group promoting ObamaCare. 

Leaders on the Energy and Commerce Committee said Friday they have written to 15 insurance companies and other groups asking whether Sebelius had contacted them to solicit funds for ObamaCare's implementation.  

Companies should hand over any internal communications that document conversations with Sebelius or discussions about her request, including emails, lawmakers wrote.  

The Sebelius probe began when news broke that she was petitioning major healthcare players to contribute to Enroll America, a group tasked with educating the public about its new health coverage options under healthcare reform.  

Republicans have denounced the effort as a "shakedown" that will line the pockets of Obama supporters and former administration officials now working to promote the Affordable Care Act. . . .