Voter Fraud And Neosocialism—The ACORN Obama Knows
If you don`t know what ACORN (the
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)
is all about, you better bone up. This left-wing group
takes in 40 percent of its revenues from American
taxpayers—you and me—and has leveraged nearly four
decades of government subsidies to fund affiliates that
promote the
welfare state and
undermine capitalism and self-reliance, some of
which have been implicated in perpetuating
illegal immigration and encouraging voter fraud. A
new whistleblower report [PDF]
from the
Consumer Rights League claims that
Chicago-based ACORN has commingled public tax
dollars with political projects.
Who in Washington will fight to
ensure that your money isn`t being spent on these
radical activities?
Don`t bother asking Barack Obama.
He cut his ideological teeth working with ACORN as a
"community organizer" and legal representative.
Naturally, ACORN`s political action committee has warmly
endorsed his presidential candidacy. ACORN head Maude
Hurd
gushes that Obama is the candidate who "best
understands and can affect change on the
issues ACORN cares about"—like ensuring their
massive pipeline to your
hard-earned money. Let`s take a closer look at the
ACORN Obama knows.
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." [Felony
charges filed against 7 in state`s biggest case of
voter-registration fraud By Keith Ervin,
Seattle Times, July 26, 2007]
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." [The
Acorn Indictments, November 3, 2006]
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.
Under the guise of "consumer
advocacy," ACORN has received money from the
Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD funds
hundreds, if not thousands, of left-wing
"anti-poverty" groups across the country led by
ACORN. Last October, HUD announced more than $44 million
in new housing counseling grants to over 400 state and
local efforts. The White House has increased funding for
housing counseling by 150 percent since taking office in
2001, despite the role most of these recipients play as
activist satellites of the Democratic Party. The AARP
scored nearly $400,000 for training; the National
Council of La Raza ("The Race")
scooped up more than $1.3 million; the National
Urban League raked in nearly $1 million; and the ACORN
Housing Corporation received more than $1.6 million.
As the Consumer Rights League
points out in its new expose, the ACORN Housing
Corporation has worked to obtain
mortgages for illegal aliens in partnership with
Citibank. It relies on undocumented income,
"under the table" money, which may not be reported
to the Internal Revenue Service. Moreover, the group`s
"financial justice" operations
attack lenders for "exotic" loans, while
recommending 10-year interest-only loans (which deny
equity to the buyer) and risky reverse mortgages.
Whistleblower documents reveal internal discussions
among the group that blur the lines between its
tax-exempt housing work and its aggressive
electioneering activities. The group appears to shake
down corporate interests with relentless PR attacks, and
then enters "no lobby" agreements with targeted
corporations after receiving payment.
Republicans have largely looked the
other way as ACORN has expanded its government-funded
empire. But finally, a few conservative voices in
Congress have called for investigation of the group`s
apparent extortion schemes. This week, GOP Reps. Tom
Feeney, Jeb Hensarling and Ed Royce called on
Democrat Barney Frank, chair of the House Financial
Services Committee, to convene a hearing to probe
potential illegalities and abuse of taxpayer funds by
ACORN`s management and minions alike.
Where does the candidate of
Hope and Change—the candidate of
Reform and New Politics—stand on the issue? Barack
Obama, ACORN`s senator, is for more of the
same old, same old subsidizing of far-left politics
in the name of fighting for the poor while enriching
ideological cronies. It`s
the Chicago way.
COPYRIGHT
CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
Michelle Malkin [email
her] is author of
Invasion: How America Still Welcomes Terrorists,
Criminals, and Other Foreign Menaces to Our Shores.
Click
here for Peter Brimelow`s review. Click
here for Michelle Malkin`s website.
Michelle Malkin`s latest book is "Unhinged:
Exposing Liberals Gone Wild."


