Stop Acorn

[SurferGirl]

I noticed someone posted a link that didn't work for a petition to stop ACORN so I looked for a link that would work.

http://netrightnation.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/sign-the-petition-now-to-stop-acorn/

[DBackFan]

Probably won't help but I signed for sure.

[wobblypops]

Hey Surfergirl, what is that picture under your name?

[SurferGirl]

The picture under my name is a copy of Michelle Obama's snack at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. This link will show a bigger copy.

http://cdobs.com/archive/blogs/the-audacity-of-a-447-39-lunch-michelle-obama-at-the-waldorf,1908/

[Bahet]

OT, it obviously wasn't a snack. 2 lobsters, 2 appetizers, a bottle of champagne at 1pm is called "lunch for 2" not a "snack for one". Yea, she spent a lot of money on lunch. So what? You don't think Mr "I don't remember how many homes I have" and his millionaire heiress mistress/wife hasn't spent that much on a lunch for 2 before? Either way, who really gives a flying rip and more importantly - why???

[SurferGirl]

For one thing after all the terrible things Ahmadinejad has said, I feel that it's not right to order Iranian caviar.

[pepperpot]

Didn't we (the US) try to boycott French Fries when we weren't pleased with France?

http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/mustard.asp

[peaceangle]

The end of our country as we know it may be right around the corner, stop bickering and wake up!!! Read the facts out there....this is not good!

[janelle]

I think it just proves they have acquired the taste of the good life and then talk to the "little People" which is most of America and we should listen because they really understand what we go through.

Reminds me of Oprah. She tries to relate to the common folks out here but she slipped up one day when she had a show on taking care of things to keep them nice. The subject was sheets. The guy said to wash them at least once a week to keep down the dust mites. Oprah jumped in before censoring herself and said she liked her sheets washed at least every third day cause after that they lost their crispness. The guy said, "well for the average person that would be too much work so once a week was fine."

Oprah was embarrassed---she was caught with having a staff do all the work for her. She did come from modest beginnings but she has been mega wealthy for some time now. I'll take Palin's more recent experience with life over Oprah's or even Michelle's.

[cSoReNSoN]

For one thing after all the terrible things Ahmadinejad has said, I feel that it's not right to order Iranian caviar.

Then it's time to throw out nearly every item in one's home as the origin of manufacture is most likely China. Stop using gasoline as its origin is the Middle East. To not do so would be unpatriotic and unAmerican.

[janelle]

I thought that was what we ARE trying to do. Get rid of our dependence on foreign oil. DRILL BABY DRILL right here right now.

[Char]

I live on the Ohio, WV border... so, I'm not sure where the lady was referring to (because I just caught the last part of it), but, on our local news at 6:00 this evening, they had a lady on who had something to do with the early voting/election process, and, she was talking about invalid votes. She said that many people were regestered to vote in several counties, and had indeed voted in several counties. They are now checking ALL the early votes and checking them with other counties, any who voted in other counties will be thrown out.

Also, the FBI is checking into the ACORN voting scams going on in Ohio.

[anothersta]

Stop using gasoline as its origin is the Middle East. To not do so would be unpatriotic and unAmerican.

Not ALL the oil is from the Middle East. We get alot from Canada and other friendly countries, too.

[wobblypops]

The picture under my name is a copy of Michelle Obama's snack at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. This link will show a bigger copy.

http://cdobs.com/archive/blogs/the-audacity-of-a-447-39-lunch-michelle-obama-at-the-waldorf,1908/

Holy crap.

[janelle]

Not ALL the oil is from the Middle East. We get alot from Canada and other friendly countries, too.

I don't mind that oil, it's the oil we pay for that goes to those countries who are producing terrorists. We are paying for our own demise.

[LunaChick]

Didn't we (the US) try to boycott French Fries when we weren't pleased with France?

http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/mustard.asp


Yeah, some were calling them freedom fries

[wobblypops]

& I still boycott that country but I also boycotted them before that all happened. I have always HATED the french.

[anothersta]

I don't mind that oil, it's the oil we pay for that goes to those countries who are producing terrorists. We are paying for our own demise.


I agree and I'm all for all energy options we can produce at home, including drilling here and drilling NOW.

I would never order something that I KNEW was from Iran if there were any other options. There had to have been a food from the USA on that menu.

[pepperpot]

& I still boycott that country but I also boycotted them before that all happened. I have always HATED the french.

But eating McDon's fries or making French toast in your kitchen isn't supporting the French :doh:....the bread is made here and the potatoes are grown here....you're hurting your own economy and country....

[pepperpot]

I think it just proves they have acquired the taste of the good life and then talk to the "little People" which is most of America and we should listen because they really understand what we go through.

Reminds me of Oprah. She tries to relate to the common folks out here but she slipped up one day when she had a show on taking care of things to keep them nice. The subject was sheets. The guy said to wash them at least once a week to keep down the dust mites. Oprah jumped in before censoring herself and said she liked her sheets washed at least every third day cause after that they lost their crispness. The guy said, "well for the average person that would be too much work so once a week was fine."

Oprah was embarrassed---she was caught with having a staff do all the work for her. She did come from modest beginnings but she has been mega wealthy for some time now. I'll take Palin's more recent experience with life over Oprah's or even Michelle's.

Janelle, I look at it this way.....by the wealthy spending their money here...in the USA...they are supporting the USA.....someone had to serve them, someone imported the caviar, drove it from the pier, sold it to the retailer and delivered it to the restaurant....the chef/kitchen staff prepared it, presented it and served it....we (the USA) made money on it......

If the wealthy go to Mexico and have lobster and caviar....we do not benefit except for the airport who charged them a tax to leave and spend their money elsewhere......

Let the wealthy spend their fortune HERE!!!!!

We should invite all the foreigners to come here and spend their money....we could use the jobs and income....;) Tourist-ism is a renewable income source with no ill effects upon our resources.....

Attention all wealthy, come spend your money here! :)

If everyone cuts corners and uses coupons and cuts back on spending......it will hurt our economy...the wealthy need to be able to spend....SPEND, SPEND, SPEND.

It just would've been nice if Michelle Obama would've included a tip.....:shuffle:

[Mary Jo]

I figure ACORN is like telemarketers.
They hire poor people for low wages and send them into bad neighborhoods to register people to vote. Some of the workers are unscrupulous and do fake registrations but it ultimately is up to the Board of Election Commissioners to vet and approve the registrations.
So as much as I disapprove of ACORN at least they're hiring Americans.

[anothersta]

It just would've been nice if Michelle Obama would've included a tip.....:shuffle:

I think the tip is worked into the 20% service charge. At least, that's what I've been told at different restaraunts and hotels that I've stayed at.

[pepperpot]

I figure ACORN is like telemarketers.
They hire poor people for low wages and send them into bad neighborhoods to register people to vote. Some of the workers are unscrupulous and do fake registrations but it ultimately is up to the Board of Election Commissioners to vet and approve the registrations.
So as much as I disapprove of ACORN at least they're hiring Americans.

A telemarketer with questionable employers.......:paranoid

[gmyers]

I don't see anything wrong with Oprah spending the way she does. She earned it and has the right to spend on whatever. But me I guess I'm too tight I would have a cow spending so much money on stuff. But I do think its a waste the way the people in Washington spend so extravagantly on everything. I think they could come down off the extravagant stuff and save taxpayer money.

[Mary Jo]

Most telemarketers are questionable employers. But I would much rather be contacted by one who was an American and not working out of a call center in India.
My point is that although ACORN is questionable at least they hire and pay Americans. I am glad that everybody here is making enough money that they've never had to take a scummy job just to make ends meet and feed their kids.

[pepperpot]

Most telemarketers are questionable employers. But I would much rather be contacted by one who was an American and not working out of a call center in India.
My point is that although ACORN is questionable at least they hire and pay Americans. I am glad that everybody here is making enough money that they've never had to take a scummy job just to make ends meet and feed their kids.

Why do you assume that? Some of us have 2 scummy jobs to feed our family.....

[pepperpot]

I don't see anything wrong with Oprah spending the way she does. She earned it and has the right to spend on whatever. But me I guess I'm too tight I would have a cow spending so much money on stuff. But I do think its a waste the way the people in Washington spend so extravagantly on everything. I think they could come down off the extravagant stuff and save taxpayer money.

I agree, let Oprah spend......she's spending her money...not ours....:huh

[anothersta]

Report Raises Questions About Use of ACORN's Funds
The New York Times reports on an internal memo that raises new questions about the way ACORN's funding is used.

FOXNews.com

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

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ACORN was drawing new scrutiny Wednesday after an internal memo surfaced that raised concerns about whether the low-income advocacy organization improperly used charitable dollars for political purposes.

The memo, written by Washington lawyer Elizabeth Kingsley, delved into ACORN's relationship with Project Vote, a group Barack Obama worked with in Chicago in the mid-'90s.

The memo, according to a report in The New York Times, said the close ACORN-Project Vote ties make it impossible to determine whether Project Vote's funds were used only for non-partisan purposes, as the law requires. The two organizations work together on voter registration drives.

The memo also addressed concerns about money transfers among ACORN affiliates and potential conflicts caused by employees of multiple affiliates, and it gave a different account from the organization of the embezzlement of almost $1 million by the brother of ACORN's founder, according to the Times report.

Bertha Lewis, ACORN's top executive, told the Times the group is looking into the report and has "taken everything [Kingsley] said in the report very seriously."

ACORN, which is under investigation for voter registration fraud in several states, has consistently said its voter registration efforts are non-partisan.

The group, along with the Obama campaign, is fighting back against the fraud allegations.

ACORN has released a video in which it says the attacks are politically motivated and that many of the problem registrations were brought to the attention of officials by ACORN itself.

Click here to read The New York Times article on ACORN.

FOX News' Eric Shawn contributed to this report.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/22/report-raises-questions-use-acorns-funds/

[anothersta]

Acorn Report Raises Issues of Legality

By STEPHANIE STROM
Published: October 21, 2008
An internal report by a lawyer for the community organizing group Acorn raises questions about whether the web of relationships among its 174 affiliates may have led to violations of federal laws.

The group, formally known as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, has been in the news over accusations that it is involved in voter registration fraud, charges it says are overblown and politically motivated.

Republicans have tried to make an issue of Senator Barack Obama’s ties to the group, which he represented in a lawsuit in 1995. The Obama campaign has denied any connection with Acorn’s voter registration drives.

The June 18 report, written by Elizabeth Kingsley, a Washington lawyer, spells out her concerns about potentially improper use of charitable dollars for political purposes; money transfers among the affiliates; and potential conflicts created by employees working for multiple affiliates, among other things.

It also offers a different account of the embezzlement of almost $1 million by the brother of Acorn’s founder, Wade Rathke, than the one the organization gave in July, when word of the theft became public.

“A full analysis of potential liability will require consultation with a knowledgeable white-collar criminal attorney,” Ms. Kingsley wrote of the embezzlement, which occurred in 2000 but was not disclosed until this summer.

In a telephone interview on Monday, Ms. Kingsley and Bertha Lewis, Acorn’s top executive, said the group had begun addressing the concerns raised in the report.

“Has everything been done yet? No,” Ms. Lewis said. “We’ve been at this for three months, and we have taken everything she said in the report very seriously. It’s a huge undertaking.”

Over the weekend, Ms. Kingsley said, the national board adopted several good-governance policies, like appointing an audit committee for the first time.

Disclosure of her report, which was distributed to Acorn and 10 affiliates, increases pressure on the organization at a particularly troublesome time. Besides the inquiries into its voter registration efforts, Acorn faces demands for back taxes by the Internal Revenue Service and various state tax authorities. At the same time, foundations that have backed Acorn are withholding support.

Ms. Kingsley’s concerns about the way Acorn affiliates work together could fuel the controversy over Acorn’s voter registration efforts, which are largely underwritten by an affiliated charity, Project Vote. Project Vote hires Acorn to do voter registration work on its behalf, and the two groups say they have registered 1.3 million voters this year.

As a federally tax-exempt charity, Project Vote is subject to prohibitions on partisan political activity. But Acorn, which is a nonprofit membership corporation under Louisiana law, though subject to federal taxation, is not bound by the same restrictions.

“Project Vote and Acorn have a written agreement that specifies that all work is nonpartisan,” Michael Slater, Project Vote’s new executive director, wrote in answer to e-mailed questions about the relationship.

But Ms. Kingsley found that the tight relationship between Project Vote and Acorn made it impossible to document that Project Vote’s money had been used in a strictly nonpartisan manner. Until the embezzlement scandal broke last summer, Project Vote’s board was made up entirely of Acorn staff members and Acorn members.

Ms. Kingsley’s report raised concerns not only about a lack of documentation to demonstrate that no charitable money was used for political activities but also about which organization controlled strategic decisions.

She wrote that the same people appeared to be deciding which regions to focus on for increased voter engagement for Acorn and Project Vote. Zach Pollett, for instance, was Project Vote’s executive director and Acorn’s political director, until July, when he relinquished the former title. Mr. Pollett continues to work as a consultant for Project Vote through another Acorn affiliate.

“As a result, we may not be able to prove that 501(c)3 resources are not being directed to specific regions based on impermissible partisan considerations,” Ms. Kingsley said, referring to the section of the tax code concerning rules for charities.

She also found problems with governance of Acorn affiliates. “Board meetings are not held, or if they are, minutes are not kept, or if minutes are kept, they never make it into the files,” she wrote.

Project Vote, for example, had only one independent director since it received a federal tax exemption in 1994, and he was on the board for less than two years, its tax forms show. Since then, the board has consisted of Acorn staff members and two Acorn members who pay monthly dues.

But George Hampton, who was listed as a board member from 1994 to 2006, said that while he had been a member of Acorn, he had never heard of Project Vote. “I don’t know anything about this,” Mr. Hampton said.

Cleo Mata, listed as a board member on tax forms from 1997 to 2006, also said she was not aware she was on the Project Vote board. “If that’s what you say,” Ms. Mata told a visitor to her home in Pasadena, Tex. “I tell you that I didn’t realize I was.”

Mr. Slater said he “cannot speak to why Mr. Hampton and Ms. Mata fail to recall their involvement on the Project Vote board.” He noted that Ms. Mata, 63, was “in poor health.”

Project Vote assembled a new board this fall that Ms. Kingsley said had greater independence, even though five of the six new members have longstanding ties to Acorn.

Ms. Kingsley’s description of the embezzlement differed from the organization’s. In an interview July 8, Ms. Lewis said 90 percent of the $948,607 Mr. Rathke’s brother embezzled came from Acorn and the rest from its charity affiliates.

But Ms. Kingsley reported that $215,000 was charged to an Acorn American Express card paid by the Acorn Beneficial Association, a pension fund that has been replaced by a new Acorn pension fund. After the embezzlement was discovered, the Acorn Beneficial Association wrote off the embezzlement as a gift to Acorn.

Acorn contends that the fund is not covered by federal pension fund regulations, but Ms. Kingsley wrote: “It is nonetheless the case that a number of organizations, possibly including unions and charities, paid funds into the A.B.A. for entirely different purposes. They did not make those contributions in order to make a gift to Acorn.”

Ms. Kingsley also found that the Acorn Fund, a health care benefits fund, had advanced “a large amount of money” to Acorn, adding that it appeared that the money was used to cover “the cash shortfall caused by the embezzlement.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/us/22acorn.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=acorn&st=cse&oref=slogin

[Char]

Saw a t-shirt today...


USA - Home of the free
Because of the brave.

[DrHolliday]

Most telemarketers are questionable employers. But I would much rather be contacted by one who was an American and not working out of a call center in India.
My point is that although ACORN is questionable at least they hire and pay Americans. I am glad that everybody here is making enough money that they've never had to take a scummy job just to make ends meet and feed their kids.

How many telemarketers do you know that are under FBI investigation for RICO violations? ACORN is.

[Char]

It is common lnowledge already that ACORN is a shifty, dirtbag group, that violates all kinds of laws, to get into office who they want.

Is there REALLY anyone here who doesn't know that ? I mean really ???


Forget anything said here...

Just read the headlines:

"Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, prosecuted Obama's Illinois ACORN and Tony Resko, 1, 55 minutes ago"

"Oct 22, 2008 ... The New York Times reveals internal ACORN report written by one of its ... Ms. Kingsley’s concerns about the way Acorn affiliates work ..."

"ACORN should be prosecuted under the RICO Statute!: This organization has had so many members prosecuted for voter fraud that it is clearly ..."

"Within its shell, ACORN contains all the makings of an intriguing government political conspiracy movie: drama, injustice, organized crime, election fraud, intimidation, violence, money, lies, extortion and a presidential candidate."

This is just silly, trying to show something that is already known...

[anothersta]

And, they should also LOSE their 501 status as they are definitely in the tank for a candidate.

[gmyers]

I heard on FOX news that ACORN admitted to 15,000 fraudulent voter registrations but it could be a lot more.

[Char]

So, where are all the Obama supporters here ? They have no comments on facts it seems, they're just blind to them.

You can't argue facts.

They would rather worry about where Palin got her clothes, than actual FACTS about 'The Messiah'.

[ahippiechic]

I['m not an Obama supported, but what ACORN is doing is awful and I've said it other threads about them. Also what Sproul is doing. They both need investigated and a stop put to it. And by the same token, how come all the McCain supporters didn't post in my Sproul thread?

[pepperpot]

.....and by the same token.......she took the bus.....;)

[anothersta]

Why is Barack Obama giving ACORN $832,000 when it is a tax dead beat? (Hat tip to an intrepid NoQuarter reader.) Before Obama and Biden cast any more stones at poor Joe the Plumber for a $1200 tax lien, they might want to insist that their buddies at ACORN pony up the HALF-MILLION DOLLARS they owe the Federal Government. That’s right boys and girls, according to Louisiana State financial records, ACORN is a mega deadbeat:
INITIAL AMOUNT: $547,312
INITIAL DOCKET #: 424212708
AMOUNT: $547,312
FILING DATE: 03/10/2008
INITIAL DATE: 03/10/2008
UPDATE DATE: 05/07/2008
Name SSN/EIN Address
IRS
PLAINTIFF
ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS FOR REFORM NOW
DEBTOR
1024 ELYSIAN FIELDS AVE
NEW ORLEANS, LA 70117

Of course, this raises some even more interesting questions.
Did Barrack’s $832,000 payment to Citizen Services, Inc., a subsidiary of ACORN, earlier this year have anything to do with helping ACORN pay off its debt? If the media is going to subject one lone American, who has the audacity to ask the Golden Child a sincere question, to the equivalent of a forensic audit, is it too much to ask that they do the same for organizations implicated in voter fraud and other criminal activity? Just a thought.
__________________
Actions have consequences.

[jeanea33]

I am sure they believe when Obama is president, they will get so much more money. So why pay now.

[LuvBigRip]

Hmmm, but lets go after Joe the Pluimber for $1,100.00

[meltodd69]

Wonder if it was H & R Block that did their taxes LOL. I would never go to them. This last year they had a woman file, she usually does it early, but this year she waited. Well her return got kicked back. Seems someone else had filed already. Turns out it was the woman that usually does them, at H & R. She filed and got the ladies check and cashed it!
One tip I will give everyone. If you owe the IRS, don't make payment arraingements with them. They will charge you $100 just to set them up. And it doesn't stop the interest from adding up any different. If you owe them send in payments on your schedule and save $100. But make sure you pay or they will come after you.
There are so many rules to the IRS code. They don't even know what's in there. I can tell you that starting soon anyone that preparers taxes is going to have to take a test with the IRS. I myself can't wait to take that test for them, I've taken many with the company I work for. I have been wanting to go to work for them, but it is so far away to take the test. It will be in Toledo soon. I can't wait! I want a bumper sticker that says "Back off or I'll audit you"! LMAO

[DrHolliday]

Hmmm, but lets go after Joe the Pluimber for $1,100.00

Well, it looks like we're going to need a WHOLE lot of Joe the Plumbers if we want to pay for Obama's 1.45 trillion in new spending.

[janelle]

Why is Barack Obama giving ACORN $832,000 when it is a tax dead beat? (Hat tip to an intrepid NoQuarter reader.) Before Obama and Biden cast any more stones at poor Joe the Plumber for a $1200 tax lien, they might want to insist that their buddies at ACORN pony up the HALF-MILLION DOLLARS they owe the Federal Government. That’s right boys and girls, according to Louisiana State financial records, ACORN is a mega deadbeat:
INITIAL AMOUNT: $547,312
INITIAL DOCKET #: 424212708
AMOUNT: $547,312
FILING DATE: 03/10/2008
INITIAL DATE: 03/10/2008
UPDATE DATE: 05/07/2008
Name SSN/EIN Address
IRS
PLAINTIFF
ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS FOR REFORM NOW
DEBTOR
1024 ELYSIAN FIELDS AVE
NEW ORLEANS, LA 70117

Of course, this raises some even more interesting questions.
Did Barrack’s $832,000 payment to Citizen Services, Inc., a subsidiary of ACORN, earlier this year have anything to do with helping ACORN pay off its debt? If the media is going to subject one lone American, who has the audacity to ask the Golden Child a sincere question, to the equivalent of a forensic audit, is it too much to ask that they do the same for organizations implicated in voter fraud and other criminal activity? Just a thought.
__________________
Actions have consequences.

But Biden said Obama never gave ACORN that money. Didn't you hear him on the news where they asked him hard "unfair" questions? He won't let them interview his wife now and may get them investigated. WHINE.

[janelle]

Well, it looks like we're going to need a WHOLE lot of Joe the Plumbers if we want to pay for Obama's 1.45 trillion in new spending.

There will be no more Joe the plumbers. The bankrupt courts will be overrun.

[gmyers]

Did anybody see on the news where they were saying that a lot of the people that work for and are investigating the voter registration fraud had donated money to Obama's campaign fund? Seems like they would be biased toward not finding or reporting the fraud. I heard that on channel 15 news today.

[anothersta]

Did anybody see on the news where they were saying that a lot of the people that work for and are investigating the voter registration fraud had donated money to Obama's campaign fund? Seems like they would be biased toward not finding or reporting the fraud. I heard that on channel 15 news today.

The gal that used the government comp to access Joe's personal files was one of those. A MAXIMUM donater for Obama, the 2300. She said she was just looking to see if he owed back child support or anything. What a coincidence?

If the dingbat had watched any of the news, she'd see that HE HAS sole custody of his son and he's a single dad. Why would he owe back child support??? Makes you wonder why they weren't checking into the mother of the kid?

Sounds like a lame excuse to me. I think they should charge her with a crime. That's ABUSING your power.

[LuvBigRip]

It is the Obama thugocracy at work. Go after anyone who challenges him.

[anothersta]

But Biden said Obama never gave ACORN that money. Didn't you hear him on the news where they asked him hard "unfair" questions? He won't let them interview his wife now and may get them investigated. WHINE.

Now, that's funny! lol Did you see her interview with McCain? It was tough and great questions.

I wasn't laughing about the station getting investigated. I'll bet it happens. Was laughing about the ACORN thing

[DrHolliday]

But Biden said Obama never gave ACORN that money. Didn't you hear him on the news where they asked him hard "unfair" questions? He won't let them interview his wife now and may get them investigated. WHINE.

Was that the Orlando reporter? I heard about that.

Imagine how things would look for this election if we actually had reporters doing their job?

[janelle]

http://www.justsaynodeal.com/acorn.html

Good explanation of the part he played and how it got us in this mess.

[LuvBigRip]

CNN) -- The Roman Catholic Church is cutting off funds to the community organizing group ACORN, citing complaints over its voter registration drives in the November 4 election as part of the reason.

Authorities raid a Las Vegas, Nevada, ACORN office after allegations of voter fraud.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development froze its contributions to the group in June amid allegations that Dale Rathke, the brother of ACORN founder Wade Rathke, had embezzled nearly $1 million.

This week, as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met in Baltimore, Maryland, the campaign's chairman said it was cutting all ties with the group.

"We simply had too many questions and concerns to permit further CCHD funding of ACORN groups," Roger Morin, the auxiliary bishop of New Orleans, Louisiana, told his colleagues in a letter to the conference.

The CCHD has donated more than $7.3 million to ACORN-related projects over the past decade, including $40,000 to an ACORN chapter in Las Vegas, Nevada, that was raided before the election in an investigation into fraudulent voter registration forms. Among other questionable documents, the ACORN chapter submitted registration forms for members of the Dallas Cowboys football team.

ACORN contends it has tried to help head off election fraud.

"In nearly every case that has been reported, it was ACORN that discovered the bad forms and called them to the attention of election authorities, putting the forms in a package that identified them in writing as suspicious, encouraging election officials to investigate, and offering to help with prosecutions," ACORN said in an October 9 news release.

Morin said a church review completed in November found ACORN no longer met standards of further funding.

The reported embezzlement dates back several years, but was only recently disclosed to ACORN board members and donors. Morin said the registration fraud complaints "raise additional serious concerns."

"Non-partisan voter registration, especially in poor communities, is important and needed work. Too often, poor voters are not registered or are not encouraged to participate in the vital choices that affect their families and communities," he wrote. However, he said, the ban on donations to ACORN won't be lifted "until and unless it is clear that CCHD funds will not go to an organization that has engaged in unlawful activities or voter registration fraud."

In a statement to CNN, ACORN Executive Director Steven Kest said his group is grateful over the church's funding in the past.

"We look forward to continuing discussions with CCHD officials and the bishops in the months ahead in hopes that we can continue working together on projects, which have been so important to so many in low-income neighborhoods across the country," Kest said.

However, Ralph McCloud, the Human Development campaign's director, said the church has "severed ties" with ACORN and there are no plans for further discussion at this time.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/13/acorn.catholics/index.html

[anothersta]

Good, I hope everyone stops donating to them... including our government

[DrHolliday]

The Roman Catholic Church made my day.

First the denial of communion to people that voted for Obama. Now this.

Awesome. There is at least one organization that stands for righteousness. :hi5


CNN) -- The Roman Catholic Church is cutting off funds to the community organizing group ACORN, citing complaints over its voter registration drives in the November 4 election as part of the reason.

Authorities raid a Las Vegas, Nevada, ACORN office after allegations of voter fraud.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development froze its contributions to the group in June amid allegations that Dale Rathke, the brother of ACORN founder Wade Rathke, had embezzled nearly $1 million.

This week, as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met in Baltimore, Maryland, the campaign's chairman said it was cutting all ties with the group.

"We simply had too many questions and concerns to permit further CCHD funding of ACORN groups," Roger Morin, the auxiliary bishop of New Orleans, Louisiana, told his colleagues in a letter to the conference.

The CCHD has donated more than $7.3 million to ACORN-related projects over the past decade, including $40,000 to an ACORN chapter in Las Vegas, Nevada, that was raided before the election in an investigation into fraudulent voter registration forms. Among other questionable documents, the ACORN chapter submitted registration forms for members of the Dallas Cowboys football team.

ACORN contends it has tried to help head off election fraud.

"In nearly every case that has been reported, it was ACORN that discovered the bad forms and called them to the attention of election authorities, putting the forms in a package that identified them in writing as suspicious, encouraging election officials to investigate, and offering to help with prosecutions," ACORN said in an October 9 news release.

Morin said a church review completed in November found ACORN no longer met standards of further funding.

The reported embezzlement dates back several years, but was only recently disclosed to ACORN board members and donors. Morin said the registration fraud complaints "raise additional serious concerns."

"Non-partisan voter registration, especially in poor communities, is important and needed work. Too often, poor voters are not registered or are not encouraged to participate in the vital choices that affect their families and communities," he wrote. However, he said, the ban on donations to ACORN won't be lifted "until and unless it is clear that CCHD funds will not go to an organization that has engaged in unlawful activities or voter registration fraud."

In a statement to CNN, ACORN Executive Director Steven Kest said his group is grateful over the church's funding in the past.

"We look forward to continuing discussions with CCHD officials and the bishops in the months ahead in hopes that we can continue working together on projects, which have been so important to so many in low-income neighborhoods across the country," Kest said.

However, Ralph McCloud, the Human Development campaign's director, said the church has "severed ties" with ACORN and there are no plans for further discussion at this time.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/13/acorn.catholics/index.html