Democracy Has Prevailed.

May 19, 2011

ACORN'S BACK! KATIE BAR THE DOOR!

Remember two days ago when I had a few nice things to say about the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review?

Yea, good times (ain't we lucky we got 'em!).

Today they go after the frantic right's boogey man, ACORN, again. And again Scaife's braintrust fails to disclose his financial connection to the source they are using AY-und they spin the story with "facts" that have already been debunked. Take a look:
Voters beware: Under new names' guise, the extreme-left Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is gearing up to help re-elect President Barack Obama in 2012.

Congress defunded national ACORN last year over its solicitous attitude toward purported prostitution operations, forcing it and state- and local-level affiliates into bankruptcy. Now, former staffers dedicated to ACORN's ultra-liberal causes run renamed groups, often from the same offices.

Writing for The American Spectator's blog, Matthew Vadum -- Capital Research Center senior editor and author of the new book "Subversion, Inc.: How Obama's ACORN Red Shirts are Still Terrorizing and Ripping Off American Taxpayers" -- confirms that ACORN's dead in name only.
Hmm. Capital Research Center going after ACORN. Haven't we seen this before?

Yes, way back in late 2009.

Turns out that foundations controlled by Richard Mellon Scaife make up the largest chunk of donor money to CRS (at this point about $4.8 million).

But braintrust circle jerking is old news by now. The fact that the braintrust would use the ACORN "prostitution" tapes as support is simply laughable. Did you know that the Congressional Budget Office found that ACORN did not break the law? From Politico:
A Congressional Research Service report commissioned by the House Judiciary Committee says ACORN hasn’t violated any federal regulations the past five years.

The report, released by Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers’s (D-Mich.) staff Tuesday evening, also reports that the undercover filmmakers that allegedly caught employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now breaking the law may have violated state law in their filming operation.
The CRS report is here, if you wanted to read it. Says no federal regulations broken in five years. We could talk about how Attorneys-General in a number of states found the same thing.

But the writer from the Scaife-funded opposition research "think tank" says otherwise and so the editorial board at the Scaife-owned news paper says otherwise. Facts be damned.

See how the noise machine works?

6 comments:

rich10e said...

blahblahblah

EdHeath said...

Yeah, rich, let's just let the right wing demonize any effort to help the poor.

Conservative Mountaineer said...

@Ed.. It's *never* been about 'helping' the poor. From the Liberal's standpoint it's always been and always will be making sure the poor think that Ole Uncle Sam is their only way to prosperity... they've become dependents of the State.. and groups like ACORN only perpetuate that myth.

rich10e said...

thx...CM

EdHeath said...

Gosh CM, if only the poor would put their faith in the wealthy to make their lives better ... what we call that? Maybe trickle down economics? Didn't we have that under Reagan and Bush II? How'd that work out for the for the poor?

I would agree the Democrats haven't done enough, but compared to the Republicans?

As you put it so eloquently to me - you can stuff it.

Matthew Vadum said...

Another dishonest column from a liberal. What a surprise!

ACORN itself was convicted of a species of felony voter fraud in April in Nevada. ACORN acknowledged its role in the conspiracy.

ACORN's fascist thuggery is the subject of my book Subversion Inc.

This piece of mine will get you up to date on ACORN's gangsterism:

http://www.newsrealblog.com/2011/04/18/acorn-convicted-in-massive-voter-fraud-conspiracy-legacy-media-yawns/

If a radical group closely associated with the president of the United States and known for its efforts to undermine American democracy were convicted in a massive voter fraud conspiracy you’d expect to hear something about it from the mainstream media, wouldn’t you? Wrong. Except for the odd FoxNews.com report and a few local reports there has been a media blackout.

On April 6 the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), that is, the organization itself as opposed to its employees, was convicted in Las Vegas of felony “compensation” for registration of voters. Sentencing is scheduled for August 10. Nevada forbids compensating voter registration canvassers because it creates a financial incentive for fraudulent or sloppy registrations.

Significantly, this is the first time ACORN itself has been convicted of a crime. The fact that the nonprofit entity was found guilty strongly suggests that ACORN’s ambitious voter-fraud schemes were sanctioned at the highest levels.

The conviction came after the 2008 election cycle during which Las Vegas ACORN officials emptied the local jails to fill voter registration canvasser slots and even put individuals convicted of identity theft in charge of the registration drive. At least they hired experts, some locals quipped, according to John Fund of the Wall Street Journal.

Mickey Mouse, Mary Poppins and celebrities living and dead have been registered to vote over and over again precisely because ACORN has been allowed to get away with polluting the nation’s voter rolls for so long.

But this is not the first time that ACORN has found itself in legal hot water. In 2010 ACORN settled a racketeering lawsuit in Ohio out of court and agreed to withdraw from the state. In the settlement with the Buckeye Institute’s 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, ACORN agreed to “cease all Ohio activity” and surrender all its state business licenses.

As Judicial Watch reports, “The group has been busted for forging voter registration applications in key battleground states and submitting falsified forms in more than half a dozen others. In 2007, ACORN settled the largest case of voter fraud in the history of Washington State after seven workers were caught submitting about 2,000 fake registration forms.” Moreover, there are scores of ACORN employees who have been convicted of election fraud.

ACORN’s conduct is habitual and has taken place in dozen of states. It’s time for these gangsters to face the full weight of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

On a personal note, my op-ed in the Friday Washington Times is the #1 most-read opinion article on the newspaper’s website (as of Sunday morning). It’s gratifying to know that people still care about the threat that ACORN and similar groups still pose to the American republic.