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ACORN - what, why and who
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ACORN - what, why and who |
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threadbear Senior Member
since 2008-07-10
Posts 817Indy 
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ACORN – what, why and who ACORN is the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now. Increasingly, conservatives have turned their attentions to this somewhat radical and affirmative action based group, especially in light of the CRA initiatives and mortgage meltdowns. It appears that the weekend’s bailout vote was at least partially killed when Republicans saw a proviso, specifically ‘Section 105(d) of the Bailout Must Go.’ The main objection to this codicil is that it would provide a slush fund that would directly go ACORN groups, which Republicans are dead set against. There is debate as to whether it would or not, but state and local ACORN groups would be the direct beneficiaries of the monies collected (not the Federal chapters). This seems like splitting hairs to me since ACORN, large or small, will still reap the windfall monies created ‘DEPOSITS. Not less than 20 percent of any profit realized on the sale of each troubled asset purchased under this Act shall be deposited...’ (sic...after bailout, 20% of any profits the government makes from selling the takeover assets will go to ACORN. This is no small amount. ACORN has been nailed with numerous ethics violations in voter fraud in Ohio, intimidation tactics against unwilling bank managers unwilling to grant spurious loans, and other pushes for what are called ‘Ninja’ loans – no income, no job, no assets. Also at wit here, is Barrack Obama’s direct involvement as community organizer and attorney for ACORN in the mid-90’s. He represented the group initially in a lawsuit, then joined them as a paid consultant to get them involved in stronger tactics to persuade reluctant loan officers to grant iffy loans. The Chicago contingent still believes that is the ‘right of every US citizen to own a home’ regardless of their financial situation. We can easily observe the faulty logic in this premise from the recent huge loan firm’s belly-ups largely due to the calling in of the chits when these loans tanked. You will see in the next few weeks, almost a witchcraft trial of demonizing every group that has a hand in this horrible financial spectacle. ACORN is just another log in the fire, Anyone associated with this group will also be chastised for not seeing the long-range results and will look like they protected their selfish interests first. My speculation is that the next target of scorn and regulation will be the largely unregulated hedge funds, high-risk speculation loans now part of many 401k's due to their high rate of return (90% in many cases). [This message has been edited by Ron (10-09-2008 03:22 PM).] |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
"In recent months alone, the chief organizer of ACORN was forced to resign over the cover-up of a $1 million embezzlement scandal involving his brother. As internal whistleblower documents recently revealed, ACORN and its offshoots may have reaped substantial financial gains by misusing taxpayer dollars for political ends and by attacking lending corporations for the same so-called 'predatory' lending practices ACORN regularly engages in. In 2008 alone, ACORN's voter registration activities have spawned investigations in almost a dozen states, sometimes involving tens of thousands of invalid or fraudulent registrations. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/crl-acorn-still-reap-windfall/story.aspx?guid={EF3547E8-8C23-4CB6-A19A-06C09A8F5BA5}&dist=hppr “To understand the nature and extent of Acorn’s radicalism, an excellent place to begin is Sol Stern’s 2003 City Journal article, ‘ACORN’s Nutty Regime for Cities.’ (For a shorter but helpful piece, try Steven Malanga’s ‘Acorn Squash.’) ”Sol Stern explains that Acorn is the key modern successor of the radical 1960’s ‘New Left,’ with a ‘1960’s-bred agenda of anti-capitalism’ to match. Acorn, says Stern, grew out of ‘one of the New Left’s silliest and most destructive groups, the National Welfare Rights Organization.’ In the 1960’s, NWRO launched a campaign of sit-ins and disruptions at welfare offices. The goal was to remove eligibility restrictions, and thus effectively flood welfare rolls with so many clients that the system would burst. The theory, explains Stern, was that an impossibly overburdened welfare system would force ‘a radical reconstruction of America’s unjust capitalist economy.’ Instead of a socialist utopia, however, we got the culture of dependency and family breakdown that ate away at America’s inner cities — until welfare reform began to turn the tide. ”While Acorn holds to NWRO’s radical economic framework and its confrontational 1960’s-style tactics, the targets and strategy have changed. Acorn prefers to fly under the national radar, organizing locally in liberal urban areas — where, Stern observes, local legislators and reporters are often ‘slow to grasp how radical Acorn’s positions really are.’ Acorn’s new goals are municipal ‘living wage’ laws targeting ‘big-box’ stores like Wal-Mart, rolling back welfare reform, and regulating banks — efforts styled as combating ‘predatory lending.’ Unfortunately, instead of helping workers, Acorn’s living-wage campaigns drive businesses out of the very neighborhoods where jobs are needed most. Acorn’s opposition to welfare reform only threatens to worsen the self-reinforcing cycle of urban poverty and family breakdown. Perhaps most mischievously, says Stern, Acorn uses banking regulations to pressure financial institutions into massive ‘donations’ that it uses to finance supposedly non-partisan voter turn-out drives. http://www.webcommentary.com/asp/ShowArticle.asp?id=gaynorm&date=081001 ========================================================================================================================================================= The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has come under fire for a plethora of scandals lately. The most prominent of these scandals surround s the issue of rampant voter fraud, a practice that ought to be particularly troubling considering the virulent, pro-Obama partisan nature of the group. Most recently, ACORN has been implicated in voter fraud schemes in over a dozen states, having submitted thousands of fraudulent voter registration cards in places like Missouri, Washington and Ohio. The organization apparently had no qualms about registering dead people, re-registering already registered voters, or fabricating drivers’ license numbers. http://cdobs.com/archive/tank/a-rotten-acorn%2C1782/ ========================================================================================================================================================== Election '08: Barack Obama wasn't just the second-largest recipient of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac political contributions. He was also the senator from ACORN, the activist leader for risky "affirmative action" loans. Read More: Economy Despite efforts to blame the rescue bill's failure on the GOP, it should be remembered that 95 Democrats — some 40% of the Democratic Caucus — withheld support. Obama himself also deserves blame — not only for the bill's failure, but also for the crisis it was designed to solve. As the New York Times reports, "Aides to Mr. Obama said he had not directly reached out to try to sway any House Democrats who opposed the measure." Is the reason the fact that the slush fund for ACORN in the original bill, siphoning off 20% of any future profits for such activist groups, was trimmed from the tree? Obama, who once represented ACORN in a lawsuit against the state of Illinois, was hired by the group to train its community organizers and staff in the methods and tactics of the late Saul Alinsky. ACORN would stage in-your-face protests in bank lobbies, drive-through lanes and even at bank managers' homes to get them to issue risky loans in the inner city or face charges of racism. In the early 1990s, reports Stanley Kurtz, senior fellow at the Ethics and Policy Center, Obama was personally recruited by Chicago's ACORN to run training sessions in "direct action." That's the euphemism for the techniques used under the cover of the federal Community Reinvestment Act to intimidate financial institutions into giving what have been called "Ninja" loans — no income, no job, no assets — to people who couldn't afford them. CRA was designed to increase minority homeownership. Whenever a bank wanted to grow or expand, ACORN would file complaints that it was not sufficiently sensitive to the needs of minorities in providing home loans. Agitators would then be unleashed. http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=307667123149723 =========================================================================================================================================================== This is the organization that Obama worked for as a community organizer, which they like to claim qualifies him to be president and ,sadly, in the middle of this crisis we are in, still the Democrats try to work in a way to take care of it by funneling money their way insteads of just doing what's best for the country. People, please wake up.......... |
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Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648 |
McCain needs to hammer this stuff home in the next debates and also in upcoming ads. If not, Obama will win, and McCain will be sunk...along with the rest of us, IMO. |
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Huan Yi Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688Waukegan |
. He can try . . . “I’ll be blunt: Sen. Obama and his supporters despise free expression, the bedrock of American self-determinism and hence American democracy. What’s more, like garden-variety despots, they see law not as a means of ensuring liberty but as a tool to intimidate and quell dissent.” http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=M2MxMWJlNzcwMDU3ZTJkYjRmZjU3N2U0OGNlZmE1ZDg= . |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
Interesting, John. Some of that needs to be highlighted... tem: When the American Issues Project ran political ads calling attention to Obama’s extensive ties to Ayers, the Weatherman terrorist who brags about having bombed the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, the Obama campaign pressured the Justice Department to launch an absurd criminal prosecution. Item: When commentator Stanley Kurtz of the Ethics and Public Policy Center was invited on a Chicago radio program to discuss his investigation of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, an “education reform” project in which Obama and Ayers (just “a guy who lives in my neighborhood”) collaborated to dole out over $100 million, the Obama campaign issued an Internet action alert. Supporters, armed with the campaign’s non-responsive talking points, dutifully flooded the program with calls and emails, protesting Kurtz’s appearance and attempting to shout him down. Item: Both Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, have indicated that an Obama administration would use its control of the Justice Department to prosecute its political opponents, including Bush administration officials responsible for the national security policies put in effect after nearly 3000 Americans were killed in the 9/11 attacks. Item: There is a troubling report that the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Section, top officials of which are Obama contributors, has suggested criminal prosecutions against those they anticipate will engage in voter “intimidation” or “oppression” in an election involving a black candidate. (Memo to my former DOJ colleagues: In a system that presumes innocence even after crimes have undeniably been committed, responsible prosecutors don’t assume non-suspects will commit future law violations — especially when doing so necessarily undermines the First Amendment freedoms those prosecutors solemnly swear to uphold.) |
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Brad Member Ascendant
since 1999-08-20
Posts 5705Jejudo, South Korea |
quote: Current Well, I was waiting for the fun to begin. I needed a good laugh, and this did it. |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
That's interesting, Brad. I'd call that a little over the top but clicking on some of the links down the right side, the site is no friend of McCain, either. Confusing, to say the least. btw, portraying ACORN as front-line troops for Obama is not inacurate. |
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threadbear Senior Member
since 2008-07-10
Posts 817Indy |
I've given much thought about why McCain won't discuss ACORN/CRA and have come to the conclusion that this topic WON'T be brought up in the debates because - McCain doesn't want the backlash of being seen as a racist. The above is also the reason you haven't seen McCain even once mention Rev. Wright/Obama in the last 6 months. |
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JenniferMaxwell
since 2006-09-14
Posts 2423 |
Finally have a chance to start doing a little research on ACORN, tb. Here's an article I found that points out the good, the bad and the ugly: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-atlas/acorn-under-the-microscop_b_112503.html I think McCain is letting the 527's do his dirty work for him, tb. Well, not entirely, Palin's seems to be warming up to smear mode to take the focus of the real issues. As for the Rev. Wright thing, well, McCain has more than a few preacher skeletons in his own closet, so might be best for him to not bring up the issue. |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
Threadbear, you are absolutely right. If one speaks out against Obama or Acorn, they must be racist, in the same way giving the opinion that OJ was really guilty showed racial prejudice, as well. |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
The Michigan branch of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), located in Detroit, is being investigated after several municipal clerks reported fraudulent and duplicate voter registration applications coming through. The majority of the fraudulent and duplicate applications are coming from the liberal ACORN group based in Detroit, Michigan, which now has ACORN investigating the problem once again as well as the Secretary of State's Office turning over some of those applications to the U.S. Attorney's Office. According to the report by Freep.com, the spokeswoman for the Michigan Secretary of State's Office, Kelly Chesney, says there is a "sizeable number of duplicate and fraudulent applications. And it appears to be widespread." ACORN has registered 200,000 voters statewide in recent months with the use of paid, part time employees. In recent years, ACORN's voter registration programs have come under investigation in Ohio, Colorado, Missouri and Washington, with some employees convicted of voter fraud. Examples of the problems they are finding with some of the ACORN submitted applications are numerous applications filed in one name, described as a "huge number," and some with names that appear to be made up. A spokesman for the Detroit office of ACORN, David Lagstein, claims the problem stems from "sloppiness or incompetence -- not an intent to let people vote more than once." Recently ACORN was in the news when the Milwaukee Election Commission started an investigation because of voters that ACORN was trying to add to voter rolls were dead, imprisoned or imaginary people. The Pittsburgh Tribune also reported the Barack Obama campaign recently amended their Federal Election Commission report to reflect $800,000 to an offshoot of the liberal ACORN group, called Citizens Services Inc., which is a subsidiary of the ACORN group. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/259825 ACORN is at the heart of one of the most massive voter fraud campaigns in American history. ACORN is intimate with Barack Obama and is a major supporter of unions throughout the country and is doing its level best (and illegally at that) trying to assure that Obama wins this election. http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/09/15/more-acorn-vote-fraud-attempts/ |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
If you want to get away from Huffington Post-type sites, try the Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch.... CRL Testimony on ACORN's Voter Fraud Last update: 10:31 a.m. EDT Sept. 25, 2008 WASHINGTON, Sept 25, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- James Terry, Chief Public Advocate for the Consumers Rights League, today testified at a joint House Administration and House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on "Federal, State and Local Efforts to Prepare for the General 2008 Election," where he highlighted "corruption at every level of ACORN including embezzlement, cover-ups, misuse of taxpayer funds and voter fraud." An excerpt of his testimony follows: James Terry, Chief Public Advocate, Consumers Rights League: "ACORN routinely says it will clean up its act. Yet, given its decade-long history of voter fraud, embezzlement, and misuses of taxpayer funds, ACORN's pattern of fraud can no longer be dismissed as a series of 'unfortunate events.' "The problem of voter registration fraud raises serious questions for this committee, and the Consumers Rights League appreciates that the right questions are being asked. "Here are the most important questions right now: We know about the thousands of potentially fraudulent voter registration cards turned in by ACORN and caught by officials. But given the size of ACORN's efforts and the fact that the abuses appear to be systemic, we believe it is fair to question how many more fraudulent registrations have not been discovered, Furthermore, as this mega organization with a decades long history of violating the law is turned to get out the vote efforts, we believe it is fair to question how many fraudulent registrations may lead to fraudulent votes or what other activities they are willing to undertake to influence the election. "These are serious questions, especially in light of recent election results which show that a just few votes can change the outcome of an election, the course of our country and the course of history. "While we do not presume to tell this committee how to address this problem, we respectfully submit that our nation's election system is facing a concerted campaign that raises serious issues that merit the committee's oversight and attention." http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/crl-testimony-acorns-voter-fraud/story.aspx?guid={573B31D0-6AB7-4353-B8E7-91300F4DFF81}&dist=hppr |
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JenniferMaxwell
since 2006-09-14
Posts 2423 |
Thanks for the links, Balladeer. Did you read the article on Huffington? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-atlas/acorn-under-the-microscop_b_112503.html It seemed a little more "fair and balanced" to me than most others I've read. It outlined the problems without pulling any punches but also spoke of the good things the group has accomplished over the last 40 years. Perhaps new leadership and oversight is what's needed to help eliminate the problems and put the organization back on track helping the poor. |
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threadbear Senior Member
since 2008-07-10
Posts 817Indy |
Jennifer, the sad fact of political groups and roots activists campaigns is this: no matter how much good they do, people will always remember the bad. Especially the cutting edge debatable ones. And if the 'bad' can be agreed by BOTH sides that it IS bad, then the news cycles pick the story up as well. This is why ACORN is not getting national press: many of the news groups feel an expose will open them up to charges of racism, and/or stymie the program entirely. I've seen activist campaigns totally blame the media and get away with it when caught with said hands in the cookie jar. The case studies of the ACLU are full of them. Another of many instances of misguided justice. Welcome to the machine .... T.Bear |
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Huan Yi Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688Waukegan |
"‘You’ve got only a couple thousand bucks in the bank. Your job pays you dog-food wages. Your credit history has been bent, stapled, and mutilated. You declared bankruptcy in 1989. Don’t despair: You can still buy a house.” So began an April 1995 article in the Chicago Sun-Times that went on to direct prospective home-buyers fitting this profile to a group of far-left “community organizers” called ACORN, for assistance. In retrospect, of course, encouraging customers like this to buy homes seems little short of madness. Militant ACORN At the time, however, that 1995 Chicago newspaper article represented something of a triumph for Barack Obama. That same year, as a director at Chicago’s Woods Fund, Obama was successfully pushing for a major expansion of assistance to ACORN, and sending still more money ACORN’s way from his post as board chair of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. Through both funding and personal-leadership training, Obama supported ACORN. And ACORN, far more than we’ve recognized up to now, had a major role in precipitating the subprime crisis." http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZjRjYzE0YmQxNzU4MDJjYWE5MjIzMTMxMmNhZWQ1MTA=&w=MA == . [This message has been edited by Huan Yi (10-07-2008 06:35 PM).] |
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JenniferMaxwell
since 2006-09-14
Posts 2423 |
Just came across this, tb and found it very interesting: Barack Obama Never Organized with ACORN Discredited Republican voter-suppression guru Ken Blackwell is attacking Barack Obama with naked lies about his supposed connection to ACORN. • Fact: Barack was never an ACORN community organizer. • Fact: Barack was never an ACORN trainer and never worked for ACORN in any other capacity. • Fact: ACORN was not part of Project Vote, the successful voter registration drive Barack ran in 1992. In his capacity as an attorney, Barack represented ACORN in a successful lawsuit alongside the U.S. Department of Justice against the state of Illinois to force state compliance with a federal voting access law. For his work helping enforce the law, called “Motor Voter,” Barack received the IVI-IPO Legal Eagle Award in 1995. (For more about Barack’s career, check out our Obama bio.) Ken Blackwell is best known today for disenfranchising Democratic voters in his dual role as Ohio Secretary of State and chair of George Bush’s Ohio campaign in 2004. To see him shed crocodile tears for the integrity of the vote while making accusations about Barack and ACORN with absolutely no basis in fact is disturbing. |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
Last July, ACORN settled the largest case of voter fraud in the history of Washington State. Seven ACORN workers had submitted nearly 2,000 bogus voter registration forms. According to case records, they flipped through phone books for names to use on the forms, including “Leon Spinks,” “Frekkie Magoal” and “Fruto Boy Crispila.” Three ACORN election hoaxers pleaded guilty in October. A King County prosecutor called ACORN’s criminal sabotage “an act of vandalism upon the voter rolls.” The group’s vandalism on electoral integrity is systemic. ACORN has been implicated in similar voter fraud schemes in Missouri, Ohio and at least 12 other states. The Wall Street Journal noted: “In Ohio in 2004, a worker for one affiliate was given crack cocaine in exchange for fraudulent registrations that included underage voters, dead voters and pillars of the community named Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy and Jive Turkey. During a congressional hearing in Ohio in the aftermath of the 2004 election, officials from several counties in the state explained ACORN’s practice of dumping thousands of registration forms in their lap on the submission deadline, even though the forms had been collected months earlier.” In March, Philadelphia elections officials accused the nonprofit advocacy group of filing fraudulent voter registrations in advance of the April 22nd Pennsylvania primary. The charges have been forwarded to the city district attorney’s office. http://michellemalkin.com/2008/06/25/the-acorn-obama-knows/ |
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threadbear Senior Member
since 2008-07-10
Posts 817Indy |
Well, Jennifer: you have just found out that Obama is a blatant liar. Nice guy. The info you posted is from Obama's Proganda site, Fight the Smears. http://sweetness-light.com/archive/obama-ran-acorns-training-sessions-on-power Here is a direct quote from Chicago ACORN organizer that he trained them. Also, the phone number address of both Project Vote and ACORN's office are the same. ACORN also PAID for Project Vote's advertising. Here is direct proof of what I say with tax documents and flier addresses. The proof just doesn't come any clearer than this; http://sweetness-light.com/archive/obama-claims-he-never-worked-for-acorn |
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JenniferMaxwell
since 2006-09-14
Posts 2423 |
Threadbear, I think if you do a little more research, you'll find that Project Vote! the voter registration campaign Obama worked on in 1992 and Project Vote/Voting for America are two different entities. Project Vote!, the organization Obama worked for in Chicago closed down in 1993. Balladeer, good to see you’re not trying to link Obama with ACORN. That smear was discredited quite a while ago. Here’s another point I haven’t seen mentioned before: "After an ACORN volunteer or employee registers voters then someone in the ACORN office calls the registrant to make sure that the form is legit. ACORN flags suspect forms and then turns in all forms to the voter registration offices -- why turn in the ones that are suspect? Because they are required to do so by law." And of course, placing so much of the blame for the Wall Street debacle on ACORN is more than a wee bit OTT. |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
"After an ACORN volunteer or employee registers voters then someone in the ACORN office calls the registrant to make sure that the form is legit. ACORN flags suspect forms and then turns in all forms to the voter registration offices -- why turn in the ones that are suspect? Because they are required to do so by law." ACORN has been implicated in similar voter fraud schemes in Missouri, Ohio and at least 12 other states. The Wall Street Journal noted: “In Ohio in 2004, a worker for one affiliate was given crack cocaine in exchange for fraudulent registrations that included underage voters, dead voters and pillars of the community named Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy and Jive Turkey. During a congressional hearing in Ohio in the aftermath of the 2004 election, officials from several counties in the state explained ACORN’s practice of dumping thousands of registration forms in their lap on the submission deadline, even though the forms had been collected months earlier.” The second quote is based on fact and makes the first quote nothing but lip service. |
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JenniferMaxwell
since 2006-09-14
Posts 2423 |
Well, the first quote is based on fact, too. It IS the law that any organization doing voter registration must turn in all voter registration cards they collect. That's not only the law, it's common sense. Imagine what could happen if they arbitrarily threw out cards. You could go to the polls on election day and find out your name's not on the role. |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
It may be the law and it may be what they must do but, obviously they did'nt or there wouldn't have been as many fraud convictions as there were. There are speed limits also but that doesn't mean no one speeds. Acorn has shown on many occasions, and have been caught in them, that they have little interest in what the law is or what they "must" do. To say that they do it because the law says they must is a little naiive for anyone to say, I would imagine. |
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JenniferMaxwell
since 2006-09-14
Posts 2423 |
No denying there were cases of voter fraud committed by members of ACORN, just as there were cases of voter fraud committed by members of organizations supporting both the Republican party and the Democratic party. But if you condemn the entire ACORN organization for the wrong doing of some of its members then don't you also have to condemn all the other organizations, too? |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
Actually, when fraud cases are uncovered in 14 states, it goes a little beyond a few members doing the wrong thing. Any reasonable person would, I would think, conclude that, if it were that widespread, it would be because it was organizational policy. The 14 states were only the ones that were caught. There may have been any number of others who weren't. |
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JenniferMaxwell
since 2006-09-14
Posts 2423 |
What do you think should be done about it? What can be done about it? |
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Huan Yi Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688Waukegan |
. http://sweetness-light.com/archive/obama-claims-he-never-worked-for-acorn . |
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Huan Yi Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688Waukegan |
. http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=308358130652174 There's another article that notes that Indianapolis now has 105% of its adult population registered to vote. . |
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threadbear Senior Member
since 2008-07-10
Posts 817Indy |
It is fascinating, is it not, that the Democratic party is totally silent on the voter fraud? This is the party that screamed ever so loudly that BOTH elections were 'stolen' due to defective voting machinery. This is the party that cried 'fairness' in elections is necessary for the public to believe in the voting system. Yet, there are now 8 states, count 'em, where ACORN voter fraud is being pursued for criminal charges, and I suspect that's just the tip of the iceberg. While I am neither a Republican or Democrat, I feel that this cooercion is so incredibly damaging to the country: from a standpoint of trust in the system, and from a standpoint of moral equivalency. Here we are, just mere days from the election, and yet these huge numbers of illegal votes will be cast simply because there isn't enough window-time to investigate ALL the claims and fix the potential fraud. This whole thing, is an outrage and a travesity on so many levels. Shame on the politicians who turned their head away from the problem, yet pandered to this group in order to garner re-election votes. Shame on the people who allowed themselves to be led by coercion. And shame on the Democratic party, and Obama, for being so two-faced on allowing this ACORN group for 20+ years to propogate ACORN's message of fear simply because it benefited their party. |
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Huan Yi Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688Waukegan |
. http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjNlNTc4ZjdmNWMwMWJlYTY1MDE2ZjFjMTQwMzIwYTU= . |
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threadbear Senior Member
since 2008-07-10
Posts 817Indy |
Power and Privilege There is a ship that sails - sometimes with wind, other times by its own momentum. When it is somewhere where it shouldn't be the ship does not bribe the anchor to hold the ship's position. t.Bear 8/03/08 |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
Threadbear, it's not fascinating...it's standard operating procedure, both for the Democrats, their believers, and the press. As you point out, they were certainly willing to scream voter fraud in the last two elections, weren't they? And the press was more than willing to champion their outcry, wasn't it? But with Acorn, the Ghengis Khan of voter fraud entities, no one has anything to say...and the American people are too stupid to claim outrage. In the past two days, two different Acorn offices have been closed by the FBI for falsifying voter registration records. In one of them, the employees listed the names of the entire starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys! (Tony Romo assured the FBI he did not register with them) It would be funny if it weren't so sad. The only thing more outrageous than Acorn's actions are the press's inactions concerning exposing it.....but, of course, if they do, then they have to mention Obama's past connections with it and that just won't do. You waiting for a Democrat to acknowledge it, here or in Congress???? You find it fascinating? I find it sad, par for the course, and proof of the shallowness and one-sidedness of the Democrats. They would rather scream about hanging chads... Any Democrat may now feel free to join in and say "Oh, yeah??? Well, what about...blah,blah,blah" and make another attempt to steer the point in another direction. |
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threadbear Senior Member
since 2008-07-10
Posts 817Indy |
PS can some moderator fix the titling of this thread? I tried, but it's beyond the 24 hr limit. It just keeps growing and growing with all those hieroglyphics.... Thanks guys/gals! T.Bear ------------------------------------------ Ah...it's fixed! I'm mega-grateful! Thank you! [This message has been edited by threadbear (10-09-2008 04:32 PM).] |
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Brad Member Ascendant
since 1999-08-20
Posts 5705Jejudo, South Korea |
This is something that has been tried before: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4372 --uh, no relation. quote: You know, going through a five minute Yahoo run on "ACORN and voter fraud", I suppose this is the "crime" of the moment. The way it's being told, you would think it was a nation-wide conspiracy to get poor people and minorities to vote. Wait, it is! A couple of points: 1. Mistakes happen 2. Stupid people do stupid things. But why in the world would anybody on the Left try to sabotage this election NOW? Occam's Razor, baby. Occam's Razor. After the election, let's see what happens. Personally, I'm inexplicably reminded of -- what was his name? Baghdad Bob? -- that guy who kept telling us how Iraq was just about to win the war and there were tremendous battles being fought where nobody was there. A little more cynicism is good advice for everybody. |
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Brad Member Ascendant
since 1999-08-20
Posts 5705Jejudo, South Korea |
eligiblybanned And since were on the subject, what about people who are eligible to vote who won't be able to: quote: [This message has been edited by Brad (10-09-2008 10:12 PM).] |
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Huan Yi Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688Waukegan |
. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/10/obama-camp-downplays-payments-to-acorn/ . |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
Mistakes happen Stupid people do stupid things Gee, thanks, Brad. That makes it all clear. Acorn is a wonderful organization (disregard the felonies) and were simply plagued by mistakes and stupid people. You are a generous man....depending on the target.  |
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Huan Yi Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688Waukegan |
. Stupidity has its comforts and advantages . . . Voter fraud is like illegal immigration; you’re not going to catch all of it or even remotely most of it and therein lies a winning strategy . |
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Mistletoe Angel 
since 2000-12-17
Posts 32816Portland, Oregon |
Seems Obama isn't alone in this mess: Miami Dade College: February 20, 2006 Press Release McCain attended a rally affiliated with ACORN, and was also a keynote speaker there. Here's a picture of him there as well (the man sitting with him on the right is Representative Kendrick Meek of Florida):  More classic "straight talk" indeed. Sincerely, Noah Eaton "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other" Mother Teresa |
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JenniferMaxwell
since 2006-09-14
Posts 2423 |
A little under the weather and not up for jousting, but wanted to share a couple of things: Bertha Lewis, Acorn's chief organizer, said in a statement that came with the photo, “It has deeply saddened us to see Senator McCain abandon his historic support for ACORN and our efforts to support the goals of low-income Americans." ”We are sure that the extremists he is trying to get into a froth will be even more excited to learn that John McCain stood shoulder to shoulder with ACORN, at an ACORN co-sponsored event, to promote immigration reform," she said." http://www.newshounds.us/2008/10/13/obama_not_the_only_candidate_associated_with_acorn_the_plot_thickens.php “It's also worth noting that similar allegations were made against ACORN in the last few election cycles, and several investigations were conducted, none of which found evidence of widespread voter fraud. Many of these were conducted by US attorneys, who were pressured by GOP political figures to investigate the issue, then fired after they failed to come up with sufficient evidence.” http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/a_dose_of_reality_on_the_acorn.php |
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threadbear Senior Member
since 2008-07-10
Posts 817Indy |
Noah, no offense, but do you even know what that conference was? It was an pro-active immigration reform bill. Really careless of you to say it was affiliated with ACORN. The event was sponsored by ' New American Opportunity campaign (NAOC) in partnership with ACORN, Catholic Legal Services - Archdiocese of Miami, Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Miami Dade College, People for the American Way/Mi Familia Vota en Acción, Service Employees International Union, and UNITE HERE.' That's 10 groups. Your attempt to tie McCain to ACORN this way is disengenious and careless. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss how to make the 11 million undocumented workers legal, among other things. Surely you're not saying this was a 'bad idea'? If anything, it shows how imbedded ACORN is in the decision making of laws. |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
Many of these were conducted by US attorneys, who were pressured by GOP political figures to investigate the issue, then fired after they failed to come up with sufficient evidence.” They are certainly not talking about this year, where 14 indictments have been laid down and felony convictions passed out. In Texas, investigators found over 4000 names of deceased people on Acorn's voter registration lists. Noah, I hope you learned something..... |
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JenniferMaxwell
since 2006-09-14
Posts 2423 |
The Republican voter fraud hoax http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/oct/13/election-acorn-voter-fraud |
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JenniferMaxwell
since 2006-09-14
Posts 2423 |
"In Texas, investigators found over 4000 names of deceased people on Acorn's voter registration lists." Could you source that for me, Balladeer? What I've found so far is that the voter registration lists, not Acorn's list, contained those 4000 names, showing the real issue was not about voter registration fraud, but the failure of county officials to properly cull existing voter registration lists. |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
When I say Acorn's voters registrations list, I am referring to voters lists involving Acorn's recruiting. In addition, there was video on the Greta Van Sustern program of a black in Ohio today who confessed to filling out a voters regristration form 73 times because Acorn promised him cigarettes and told him he was helping the black people with his actions and that he wasn't doing anything wrong. This was not a report...this was the actual video of the young man's admission. |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
On Brett Hume, the director of voter registration in Cayahoga county in Ohio states that Acorn has registered 74,000 new voters but that there are problems with 8000 of them, which have been turned over to federal authorities. The head of Acorn claims that it is all based on partisan politicing. |
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threadbear Senior Member
since 2008-07-10
Posts 817Indy |
THE ACORN scandal now affects 13 total states. That's 1/4th of states of the United States. Let's be frank here: ACORN is a political action group firmly entrenched in the Democratic party's pocket for years. All those feeble early attempts to discredit the early ACORN fraud news stories seem misguided and naiive. In my opnion, the Obama connection with ACORN is 10 times more important and valid than the Ayres/terrorist connection. But McCain is afraid to lose the moderate vote, and won't touch this story except to dance around it. |
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threadbear Senior Member
since 2008-07-10
Posts 817Indy |
ACORN has been in 'business' for 30 years. Obama and Dick Durbin has lobbied for and received, huge government grants to this activist organization. They are knee-deep in this scandal. There are pictures showing Obama standing in front of an easel teaching ACORN volunteers how to canvas voter registration. The picture was posted at one time on the ACORN site itself! Yet, Obama's propaganda website says he never had any direct involvement with the group. Right .. . But the kicker is this: the media ignored all the stories for as long as they could. When the fourth or fifth state showed voter regis. fraud, they couldn't ignore it any longer. Now in its 13th state of fraud, the ACORN scandal is ONLY in the news because each day a NEW state scandal with them surfaces. Otherwise, it would have stay buried as it was for 30 years. |
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threadbear Senior Member
since 2008-07-10
Posts 817Indy |
The problem with ACORN is the same systemic problem with other minority-heavy demographic areas: there's no check and balance system to blow the whistle on them. ACORN operates in areas that are almost exclusively Black neighborhoods. This fact has been totally lost on the news cycles. Blacks traditionally vote 95%+ for Democrats. Therefore, most of the voter volunteers are Democrats in this area, and have been well-schooled on the proper anti-Repub viewpoint. My purpose for this comment is shine a light on Political Correctness and how it has kept the populace from discusing and engaging in truthful discourse. If you can't talk about 'certain topics' then the subject of those topics are bullet-proof. [This message has been edited by threadbear (10-14-2008 02:54 PM).] |
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Grinch Member Elite
since 2005-12-31
Posts 2929Whoville |
Can someone clarify exactly how this “voter fraud” works? Seriously, I’m not really sure how voter registration works in the US but I’ve looked into it and frankly I’m a little confused. As I understand it Acorn canvassers get potential voters to fill in a registration document, Acorn audit them and mark any incomplete or dubious forms before handing all of them, including those marked as dubious (they have to by law) to election officials. The election officials check the forms and add all the legitimate applicants to the register of voters, all the dubious forms are double checked then discarded. I can’t see any fraud yet - simply a system of checks and balances that seems to be working. Maybe the fraud is perpetrated against Acorn: Acorn canvassers get paid for every registration by Acorn, so maybe some of them decide to fill in false details, like Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck to up their earnings. Acorn when they validate the form mark it as dubious and, adhering to the letter of the law, pass it to election officials. The election officials can then either reject it as dubious or start jumping up and down claiming the Acorn is trying to fraudulently register Mickey Mouse. Could the fraud affect the election? Let’s say that Acorn don’t mark Mickey Mouse’s application as dubious and some dipstick election official neither rejects it nor claims foul to CNN but adds Mickey to the electoral register. Now Mickey Mouse, or someone purporting to be Mickey Mouse can turn up on voting day and cast a vote for that nasty Obama, right? Well actually no, apparently any first time voter who hasn’t registered in person can only vote if they produce proof of their identity when they turn up to vote - I believe that’s federal law - another check to thwart vote rigging. So where’s the fraud? Let me just say I’m not 100% sure that the process as outlined above is correct, I only spent 10 minutes on Google digging into it so I could be completely wrong here. If someone could explain the process, or just correct me where I got it wrong I’d be extremely grateful. |
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Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648 |
The biggest concern is in Ohio where they had the same day registration/voting and the Secretary of State of Ohio is not forwarding the Federal list of Social Security #'s to the county level in order for them to determine if those are valid registrations/votes. Once the votes are taken from the envelope, they become anonymous and can no longer be verified. It seems that she has been successful in her delaying tactics in forestalling the verification process by appealing and winning in the appeals court against the Federal Judge who ordered her to cooperate with the county level workers so that they could do the verifications. I think the deadline is tomorrow, and then all those votes, which couldn't be verified, one way or the other, have to count as a valid vote. |
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Grinch Member Elite
since 2005-12-31
Posts 2929Whoville |
Denise, Could you clarify how same day registration\voting works, as I said the US voting process is new to me? Also what’s Acorn’s involvement in this? |
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Huan Yi Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688Waukegan |
. "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the--if he--if 'is' means is and never has been, that is not--that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement....Now, if someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no. And it would have been completely true." Same game being played . . . . |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
I probably could have saved at least some of the posts I just removed. However, when civility goes out the window and people start attacking each other, there's clearly going to be someone who has wasted their time. Frankly, I didn't see any reason why that wasted time should be mine. |
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Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648 |
In most states, Grinch, there is a month interlude between when registrations stop and voting begins, in order to verify registrations as being valid. Even that is becoming more difficult when the system is flooded with registrations from groups like ACORN. In Philadelphia where I live, the Voter Registration Office was flooded with 57,000 + registrations. I re-registered about 6 weeks ago to change my address. To date I still haven't received my new card. I called them and they said that it would probably take 6 to 8 weeks due to the volume of registrations that they have been receiving. So I don't really know how much verifying is being done. Ohio decided this year to allow same day registration/voting, leaving only a week or two to do the verifying before the envelopes with the personal information on them have to be opened and separated from the enclosed anonymous ballots and counted as votes. And the Secretary of the State of Ohio really tied the hands of the local county verifiers by not giving them access to the verification tools. So the only ones that they can discount are the obvious frauds, like the ones with Disney character names. I think this is outrageous in a battleground state like Ohio where a couple thousand votes can make the difference in the national outcome. |
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Grinch Member Elite
since 2005-12-31
Posts 2929Whoville |
Denise, Thanks for that. I understand that the number of registrations could swamp the system but how does that equate to a charge of fraud being levelled at ACORN? As I understand it ACORN collect registration forms and pass them on to the election official in charge of the electoral register who verifies the forms before adding legitimate voters to the register and rejecting dubious or incorrect forms. I believe that ACORN are legally obliged to pass all forms, including any they find that are dubious because only the election official can legally reject a registration\vote. If that’s the case there are bound to be dubious forms that end up in the system, most of which would normally be rejected. It sounds more like the system is at fault rather than ACORN. Ron, Sorry for wasting your time, I heard the bell and came out swinging, I should have known better. |
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