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    7 charged with voter registration fraud

    7 charged with voter registration fraud
    Jul 26, 2007 at 6:40 PM PDT
    By Associated Press


    SEATTLE (AP) - King County prosecutors filed felony charges Thursday against seven people in what a top official described as the worst case of voter-registration fraud in state history, while the organization they worked for agreed to keep a better eye on its employees and pay $25,000 to defray costs of the investigation.

    The seven submitted about 1,800 registration cards last fall on behalf of the liberal Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, which had hired them at $8 an hour to sign people up to vote, according to charging documents filed in Superior Court.

    Secretary of State Sam Reed told a news conference it was clearly Washington's most serious instance of voter registration fraud. "This was an act of vandalism upon the voter rolls of King County," said Dan Satterberg, the interim King County prosecutor.

    Satterberg, Reed and other officials stressed that the defendants were motivated by financial gain rather than any desire to toy with the outcome of an election. They said that in one sense, ACORN was victimized because it paid for voter-registration work that was never performed.

    But in interviews with King County Sheriff's Detective Chris Johnson, several of the defendants - while freely admitting they forged the forms - insisted that they had been told ACORN would shut down their office in Tacoma if they didn't improve their numbers, Johnson wrote in a probable cause statement.

    One, Ryan Olson, said another worker in the office told him "do what you have to do" to turn in more cards.

    ACORN's oversight of the workers was virtually nonexistent - to the extent that civil charges could have been warranted, Satterberg said.

    In a settlement agreement announced Thursday, ACORN, which cooperated with the investigation, agreed to pay $25,000 and to make improvements in its management, training and oversight of suspect voter registrations throughout the state.

    Acting Seattle U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan said he believes the agreement could become a model for other states in dealing with organizations like ACORN. "Voter registration is a vital part of our work to increase civic participation," said John Jones, president of Washington ACORN. "We need to continue to do that work, and do all that we can to make sure that no one is trying to pull a fast one on us, and creating problems for the registrations, to get money they haven't earned. We will be working closely with county officials to do that."

    ACORN, founded in 1970, has run voter registration drives across the country, with allegations of fraudulent registrations surfacing in several states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri and Colorado in recent years.

    The Washington state probe began after King County election workers in October spotted apparently forged voter-registration cards among about 1,800 that were turned in by ACORN. The cards arrived a day after they were due for the November election.

    Election officials feared that tossing all of the registrations could inadvertently disenfranchise any potentially legitimate voters in the batch. So they allowed the names to appear on the rolls for subsequent elections, including an advisory vote on replacing Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct in March.

    But they flagged those names and tried to verify them using other state databases. Only six turned out to be legitimate voters, Satterberg said. The King County canvassing board agreed to remove many of the rest - 1,762 - from the rolls Thursday, satisfied they were fraudulent.

    Investigators determined that no votes were cast from the fraudulent voter registrations.

    Charging papers said that in many cases, the ACORN workers flipped through phone books or baby-name books at the Seattle Public Library, picking names from one page and addresses from another.

    Frequently they listed homeless shelters as the addresses, requiring shelter staff to spend hours going through their records to determine whether any of the people had actually lived there.

    None of the defendants could immediately be reached for comment. Some had unlisted phone numbers or numbers that had been changed, while others did not return messages seeking comment.

    Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for the King County prosecutor's office, said he did not know whether any had obtained attorneys.

    The defendants are:

    -Tina Marie Johnson, 24, of Tacoma, and Jayson Lee Woods, 19, of Elkridge, Md., who each face eight counts of providing false information on a voter registration, a felony punishable by up to one year in prison.

    -Clifton Eugene Mitchell, 44, of Lakewood, the political organizer in the Tacoma ACORN office at the time of the alleged wrongdoing last August and September, and Olson, 28, of Needle, Calif., each face two counts of the same.

    -Robert Greene, 56, of Tacoma, and Kendra Thill, 18, a transient who has not been located, face one count apiece.

    -Brianna Debwa, 35, the quality control specialist in the office, faces one count of providing false information on a registration, and one count of making false statements to a public official.

    http://www.komotv.com/news/8729967.html
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    Via Sound Politics: http://soundpolitics.com/archives/008985.html

    You’ll love some of the names they used,

    Tom Tancredo
    Dennis Hastert
    Alcee Hastings
    John McKay
    Leon Spinks
    Frekkie Magoal
    Fruto Boy Crispila





    Which left-wing group is at the center of the worst case of voter-registration fraud in Washington state history? Yep, you guessed it: ACORN.

    The same ACORN tied to massive voter fraud in Missouri.
    http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/...92/detail.html

    ACORN Workers Indicted For Alleged Voter Fraud
    November 1, 2006


    KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Four people have been indicted on charges of voter fraud in Kansas City, officials said Wednesday.

    Investigators said questionable registration forms for new voters were collected by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, a group that works to improve minority and low-income communities.

    The four indicted -- Kwaim A. Stenson, Dale D. Franklin, Stephanie L. Davis and Brian Gardner -- were employed by ACORN as registration recruiters. They were each charged with two counts.

    Federal indictments allege the four turned in false voter registration applications. Prosecutors said the indictments are part of a national investigation.

    ACORN and Project Vote recruit and assign workers to low-income and minority neighborhoods to register people to vote.

    The Kansas City Election Board told KMBC they found suspicious forms, such as seven applications from one person and an application for a dead man. "There is some motive behind it -- this is not accidental," said Ray James with the Kansas City Election Board.

    Election officials said some of the application cards had false addresses, signatures and phone numbers.

    ACORN officials in Kansas City said they turned in the four people who were indicted. "We're very happy that they were indicted," said Claudie Harris with ACORN.

    Harris said ACORN workers are paid by the hour and not by the number of voter registration cards they turn in. "When you fraudulently defraud this, that gives us a bad name and what we're trying to do a bad name," Harris said.

    ACORN officials said the four indicted have been fired.

    Harris said ACORN workers check every voter registration card before sending it to the Election Board. Last month, ACORN claimed to have processed more than 35,000 voter registration applications in Kansas City since the summer.


    New report shows ACORN has been linked to voter fraud in more than 12 states
    http://www.epionline.org/news_detail.cfm?rid=171

    ACORN’s Voter Fraud in Ohio is Part of Larger Pattern
    8/11/06


    Washington, DC –ACORN’s recent run-in with the Franklin County elections board for allegedly turning in falsified voter registration cards is only the latest in a long-standing pattern of dubious elections practices. ACORN employees have been accused of submitting bogus voter registration cards and forging signatures on ballot initiatives in 12 states since 2004.
    In addition to Ohio, ACORN employees have been accused of illegal elections practices in New Mexico, Florida, Colorado, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Virginia among others. Here are just a few examples of ACORN’s pattern and practice of fraud associated with their campaigns:

    Florida—When ACORN led a ballot initiative to raise Florida’s minimum wage in 2004, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokesman said ACORN was “singled out” among suspected voter registration groups because it was “the common thread” in the agency’s investigations from one end of the state to the other. One blatant example of voter fraud includes registering 68-year-old Charles Shuh, a former Democratic mayor of St. Petersburg, as a 30-year-old female Republican.

    New Mexico—In an effort to put a wage initiative on the ballot in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2005 ACORN employees forged thousands of fraudulent signatures. Following their voter registration drive in 2004, a state Representative stated that ACORN was “manufacturing voters” throughout New Mexico.

    Ohio—This is not the first time ACORN has been accused of shady practices in Ohio. In Cuyahoga County in 2004, ACORN and its affiliate Project Vote submitted registration cards that had the highest rate of errors for any voter registration group.

    “Once again ACORN is using any means necessary to fool the public into supporting its radical political agenda,” said Mike Flynn, EPI’s director of legislative affairs. “ACORN’s decades of questionable elections practices and outright deceit extending throughout a dozen states prove this group is more about advancing its political agenda than about helping the community.”

    To see an example of the fraudulent signatures ACORN submitted for their ballot initiative to raise Albuquerque’s minimum wage or to read the report “Rotten ACORN: America’s Bad Seed,” go to http://www.RottenACORN.com.
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

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    Commenter Zorro points out that John Edwards’ poverty tour was joined at ACORN’s hip. Yes, indeed it was. Here’s video:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUbCW6krrXI&eurl=
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

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    Who cares about voter fraud, anymore?
    ACORN guilty pleas ignored


    Remember last fall, when every last moonbat was decrying voter fraud preemptively? Remember Diebold Derangement Syndrome? After the Dems won, of course, voter fraud dropped from their political radar screen.

    And boy, would they love for the rest of us to fuhgeddaboudit.

    Yesterday, three elections hoaxers who worked for the far Left group ACORN pleaded guilty in Seattle for their role in the biggest election fraud scheme in Washington state history ...


    Didn’t make the nightly news:
    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...yndication=rss

    Three plead guilty in fake voter scheme
    By Keith Ervin - Seattle Times staff reporter


    Three of seven defendants in the biggest voter-registration fraud scheme in Washington history have pleaded guilty and one has been sentenced, prosecutors said Monday.

    The defendants were all temporary employees of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, when they allegedly filled out and submitted more than 1,800 fictitious voter-registration cards during a 2006 registration drive in King and Pierce counties.

    No votes were cast in the names of the phony voters. Prosecutors said the defendants committed fraud in order to keep their jobs without actually registering voters.


    King County election workers brought the fraud to the attention of prosecutors last October, after noticing that signatures on many registration forms looked like they had been written by the same person.

    Ryan Olson, 28, of Needles, Calif., was the first to be sentenced. He pleaded guilty Thursday in King County Superior Court to two counts of providing false information on a voter-registration application, a felony. Court Commissioner Kenneth Comstock sentenced him to 30 days in jail or in electronic home detention, the sentence recommended by prosecutors, said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's Office.

    Tina Johnson, 24, of Tacoma, and Jayson Woods, 20, of Elkridge, Md., also have pleaded guilty to eight counts each of registration fraud. Donohoe said prosecutors have recommended 120 days of jail for each of them using the same formula applied to Olson: 15 days for each count.

    Brianna Debwa, 35, of Tacoma; Robert Greene, 56, of Tacoma; and Clifton Mitchell, 45, of Lakewood, Pierce County, have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to appear in court in November. Kendra Thill, 19, no known address, was charged with voter fraud and is wanted for failure to appear in court.

    King County election workers brought the fraud to the attention of prosecutors last October, after noticing that signatures on many registration forms looked like they had been written by the same person.
    Those of you with long memories will recall that these are the goons who filed thousands of phony registration forms while sitting around a table at the Seattle Public Library, using names like the following:

    Tom Tancredo
    Dennis Hastert
    Alcee Hastings
    John McKay
    Leon Spinks
    Frekkie Magoal
    Fruto Boy Crispila

    I ask again: Why do we still fork over taxpayer subsidies to ACORN?
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    The most important thing to keep in mind with ACORN is that they are in bed with George Soros. No group in bed with Soros should ever be allowed to enjoy tax free status because their work is never non partisan.

    ACORN helps Soros carry out his quasi socialist agenda and they do it under the guise of things like civil rights.

    My main knowledge of this group comes from their interference in one particular industry, mortgages. http://proprietornation.blogspot.com...ontinuing.html

    They went down to Florida and put on a full court media press to try and pressure Countrywide to disregard the terms of a bunch of loans because the borrowers were no longer able to pay. A mortgage is a contract and ACORN used poor folks as victims to pressure a private company into disregarding the contract they made with other private citizens. When groups start to do that they threaten the very fabric of the capitalistic nature of our economic system. They do it by trotting out those people that make for sympathetic victims.
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

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    More voter fraud allegations against ACORN
    March 13, 2008


    Not again?

    Yes, again.

    KYW in Philly reports that the left-wing, government-subsidized group ACORN once again faces allegations of voter fraud:

    Philadelphia elections officials are accusing the nonprofit advocacy group “Acorn” of filing fraudulent voter registrations in advance of the April 22nd Pennsylvania primary.

    Acorn, which advocates on behalf of low-income residents in the city, has mounted a voter registration drive in the past few months. But city election commissioners are complaining that many of the submitted registrations appear to be faulty, and they have forwarded the matter to the district attorney’s office for further investigation.

    Krista Holub, Acorn’s political director in Pennsylvania, promised the elections officials that her group will cooperate: “We’re very committed to helping low- to moderate-income people across the state get registered to vote. And we’re here to work closely with the board of elections to make sure that everyone we’re helping to apply gets on the rolls.”

    The city officials say many of the addresses listed on the registrations are invalid, but Acorn blames the post office for not adequately servicing low-income communities.

    That’s rich. It’s all the post office’s fault!

    Last October, three elections hoaxers who worked for the far Left group ACORN pleaded guilty in Seattle for their role in the biggest election fraud scheme in Washington state history. It’s the same ACORN tied to massive voter fraud in Missouri. And Ohio. And 12 other states.

    The same ACORN that has received government grants and taxpayer subsidies while pushing a militant partisan agenda as offshoots of the AFL-CIO and Democrat Party.

    You think anyone has the guts to pull them off the government teat?

    Forget it.

    As I noted twice in January, the Dems are pushing to pour more money into ACORN’s coffers under the guise of the economic stimulus expansion. In other words: more Washington investment in voter fraud.

    If you subsidize it, you get more of it.

    Election mischief: Your tax dollars at work!
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

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    Blowing the whistle on ACORN

    The radical left-wing, government-subsidized group ACORN uses your tax dollars to engage in voter fraud, enrich itself as part of the mortgage counseling racket, and serve as an activist branch of the Democrat Party.

    There’s more; a new report: http://www.consumersrightsleague.org/
    “The Consumers Rights League just released a collection of whistleblower documents from an ACORN staffer that raise some new concerns about how the organization has established policies for its housing counselors to use undocumented / under-the-table income for processing loan applications from low-income individuals.

    In addition to pushing these and other exotic loans, the documents reveal that ACORN has engaged in some apparently illegal activities by commingling government funds from its tax-exempt offshoot entities to fight political battles against corporate lenders. ”

    Which one again begs a nagging question I’ve asked before: Why do Republicans continue to abet their political enemies and allow public money to be funneled to these con artists?

    How your money is being spent (the full report is here - PDF): http://www.consumersrightsleague.org...AHC_Report.pdf

    Despite raking in a troubling 40 percent of its revenue from taxpayers over the last three years, ACORN Housing Corporation’s actions range from controversial to borderline illegal:

    • AHC has worked to obtain mortgages for illegal aliens

    • AHC relies on undocumented income, “under the table” money that may not be reported to the Internal Revenue Service

    • ACORN’s “financial justice” operations attack lenders for “exotic” loans, but AHC has recommended ten-year interest-only loans (which deny equity to the buyer) and reverse mortgages (which can be detrimental to senior citizens)

    • AHC may have violated federal law by failing to maintain a proper distinction between its tax-exempt housing work and the aggressive political activities of ACORN

    More:

    The ACORN Housing Association (AHC), an ACORN affiliate that receives over 40% of its funding from government sources, claims to be a consumer advocate. In a newly-released report from CRL, however, a series of documents obtained from a whistleblower source reveals hypocritical and potentially illegal use of taxpayer dollars by ACORN and its related organizations. These documents – which include staff emails and internal organization policies – suggest that ACORN has failed to maintain a proper distinction between its tax-exempt housing work and its aggressive political activities.

    “ACORN and its offshoots take in millions of dollars in government grants under the guise of ‘consumer advocacy’ to line their own pockets. Attacking financial institutions for ‘predatory’ loan practices and then turning around to form cozy relationships with the same corporations sounds more like extortion than advocacy for low-income families,” said Jim Terry, CRL’s Chief Public Advocate. “The public deserves answers about how organizations funded by their tax dollars are functioning, particularly at a time when the Congress is considering pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into their budgets.”

    According to the internal documents obtained by CRL, this potentially illegal practice of commingling funds occurs when AHC, ACORN’s tax-exempt offshoot, spreads government grant funds among various related entities to be used for political gains. Through targeted public relations assaults, ACORN is able to extract resources from financial lenders seeking abatement and to force financial settlements that benefit ACORN but are harmful to consumers.

    Even as ACORN attacks other lenders for engaging in “predatory” tactics, the organization’s housing affiliate offers consumers the very same types of exotic loans, including 10/40 interest only mortgages (which prevent buyers from building equity during the first 10 years of a loan) and reverse mortgages (which can be detrimental to senior citizens). ACORN’s pay-to-play attack model has become so pervasive that in one internal email, a staffer writes that lenders view the forced deals with ACORN “as a cost of doing business.”

    The CRL-issued report also raises concerns about ACORN’s role in the industry-wide relaxation of credit and the decline in mortgage lending standards that are at the heart of the current housing downturn. One email obtained from CRL’s whistleblower source reveals AHC’s use of suspect lending practices to help potential homebuyers obtain mortgages. In particular, one internal document outlines an AHC policy that advises its housing counselors to use “under-the-table” income – earnings that are typically not reported to the IRS – to process mortgage applications for low-income and minority homebuyers.

    “The fact that AHC is counseling low-income consumers to take the very same loans it labels as ‘predatory’ is more than troubling,” said Terry. “It is important for homebuyers seeking AHC’s advice to understand ACORN’s true motives, and for American citizens to know how their money is being spent. This report raises some serious questions that deserve a great deal of scrutiny by consumers and taxpayers alike.”
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

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    The CRL-issued report also raises concerns about ACORN’s role in the industry-wide relaxation of credit and the decline in mortgage lending standards that are at the heart of the current housing downturn. One email obtained from CRL’s whistleblower source reveals AHC’s use of suspect lending practices to help potential homebuyers obtain mortgages. In particular, one internal document outlines an AHC policy that advises its housing counselors to use “under-the-table” income – earnings that are typically not reported to the IRS – to process mortgage applications for low-income and minority homebuyers.

    “The fact that AHC is counseling low-income consumers to take the very same loans it labels as ‘predatory’ is more than troubling,” said Terry.
    Group blasts subprime loans
    Need for changes focus of Detroit conference

    BY AMBER HUNT • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
    June 23, 2008


    Long before the mainstream media began reporting on those sneaky subprime mortgage loans that have forced millions into foreclosure, the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now was blasting them.

    On Sunday the group continued to raise awareness about the need for changes, highlighting the issue as it relates to Detroit, which earlier this year had one out of every 153 households in foreclosure. "They targeted African Americans and Latinos," U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said of certain mortgage companies. "They have wreaked havoc on this country."

    Waters was one of several speakers -- including U.S. Reps. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick and John Conyers, both Michiganders -- at the two-day ACORN national conference, which ends today at Cobo Hall in downtown Detroit.

    ACORN is a liberal-leaning grassroots organization with more than 400,000 members who gather to address issues such as funding for urban schools and affordable housing.

    Waters especially targeted Angelo Mozilo, chief executive officer of Countrywide Financial Corp., who made headlines recently for giving his cronies -- including lawmakers -- sweet mortgage terms while charging lower-income working families significantly higher interest rates.

    Cheeks Kilpatrick challenged President George W. Bush to direct money to help people headed to foreclosure.

    Conyers said ACORN members need to focus on the upcoming election to see real change. "We have to win this election," Conyers said as he touted presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, who has pledged to help those in foreclosure.

    http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080623/NEWS01/806230318/1003<br%20/>


    See also : http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...TICS/806230355


    Conyers said as he touted presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, who has pledged to help those in foreclosure.
    Another reason NOT to vote for Obama....
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

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    The ACORN Obama Knows
    Wed Jun 25, 3:00 AM ET


    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 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."

    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.

    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.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20080625/...mmax/op_196477
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

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    There’s much more to the story of Obama’s amended campaign finance reports than what Obama and the Obamedia will tell you. I will fill you in on what’s missing in a moment. What we have here, essentially, is Obama using a non-profit group called Citizens Services Inc. as a front to funnel payments to ACORN for campaign advance work. Obama officials say it’s no big deal. Nothing to see here. Move along. But where there’s left-wing laundering smoke, there’s fire. CSI has been the subject of a little-noticed complaint to the FEC by a Democrat who smelled something rotten going on between CSI, ACORN, and a left-wing 527, Communities Voting Together.

    But first, the headline:

    Obama to amend report on $800,000 in spending

    The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has details: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_584284.html

    U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign paid more than $800,000 to an offshoot of the liberal Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now for services the Democrat’s campaign says it mistakenly misrepresented in federal reports.

    An Obama spokesman said Federal Election Commission reports would be amended to show Citizens Services Inc. — a subsidiary of ACORN — worked in “get-out-the-vote” projects, instead of activities such as polling, advance work and staging major events as stated in FEC finance reports filed during the primary.

    FEC spokeswoman Mary Brandenberger said it is not unusual for campaigns to amend reports, even regarding large sums of money.

    But, said Blair Latoff, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee: “Barack Obama’s failure to accurately report his campaign’s financial records is an incredibly suspicious situation that appears to be an attempt to hide his campaign’s interaction with a left-wing organization previously convicted of voter fraud. For a candidate who claims to be practicing ‘new’ politics, his FEC reports look an awful lot like the ‘old-style’ Chicago politics of yesterday.”

    The suspicions are well-placed, as I’ve been detailing ever since starting ACORN Watch.

    Jim Terry, spokesman for a group that tracks ACORN, said Citizens Services Inc.’s involvement in the Obama campaign raises bigger questions.

    “All of this just seems like an awful lot of money and time spent on political campaigning for an organization that purports to exist to help low-income consumers,” said Terry, chief public advocate for Consumers Rights League, a Washington, D.C., advocacy outfit with a libertarian outlook.

    “ACORN has a long and sordid history of employing convoluted Enron-style accounting to illegally use taxpayer funds for their own political gain,” Terry claimed. “Now it looks like ACORN is using the same type of convoluted accounting scheme for Obama’s political gain.”

    Are your alarm bells ringing yet?



    The Ohio primary was March 4. According to FEC records, the Obama campaign paid Citizens Services Inc. $832,598.29, from Feb. 25 to May 17.

    A Trib analysis of campaign finance reports showed Obama paid CSI for services that stood out as unusual. For example, CSI received payments of $63,000 and $75,000 for advance work. Excluding the large payments to CSI, the average amount the Obama campaign spent with other organizations was $558.82 per check on more than 1,200 entries classified as advance work.

    Citizens Services Inc. is headquartered at the same address as ACORN’s national headquarters in New Orleans. Citizens Services was established in December 2004 to “assist persons and organizations who advance the interests of low- and moderate-income people,” according to paperwork filed in Louisiana. In a 2006 ACORN publication, Citizen Services Inc. is described as “ACORN’s campaign services entity.”
    Separate?

    Bull

    Regarding CSI’s nonprofit status, Robinson said: “We are organized specifically not to make money, but we make money. There are no profits. We have a staff of 60 people around the country, and that eats up our entire profit. We’re not a for-profit corporation, but we are not a group like a United Way.”

    CSI is a “separate organization entirely” from ACORN, he said.

    “ACORN is a client of ours,” Robinson said. “ACORN has a lot of different partner organizations. We are a partner, but we are separate.”

    Robinson is listed on several Web sites as national deputy political director for campaigns and elections at ACORN. He is also listed as political director at the nonprofit Communities Voting Together and as a consultant at Project Vote. He did not return phone calls or an e-mail request for a follow-up interview.

    Money flows back and forth between ACORN, Citizens Services Inc., Project Vote and Communities Voting Together. ACORN posts job ads for Citizens Services and Project Vote. Communities Voting Together contributed $60,000 to Citizens Services Inc., for example, in November 2005, according to a posting on CampaignMoney.com. Project Vote has hired ACORN and CSI as its highest paid contractors, paying ACORN $4,649,037 in 2006 and CSI $779,016 in 2006, according to Terry of the Consumers Rights League.
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

  15. #11
    Jolie Rouge's Avatar
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    And now, let’s dig deeper.

    FEC reports show that from February-May 2008, Obama paid $832,598.29 to CSI.

    The payments were for:

    $310,441.20 25-FEB-08 STAGING, SOUND, LIGHTING
    $160,689.40 27-FEB-08 STAGING, SOUND, LIGHTING
    $98,451.20 29-FEB-08 TRAVEL/LODGING
    $74,578.01 13-MAR-08 STAGING, SOUND, LIGHTING
    $18,417.00 28-MAR-08 POLLING
    $18,633.60 29-APR-08 STAGING, SOUND, LIGHTING
    $63,000.00 29-APR-08 ADVANCE WORK
    $105.84 02-MAY-08 LICENSE FEES
    $105.84 02-MAY-08 LICENSE FEES
    $75,000.00 17-MAY-08 ADVANCE WORK
    $13,176.20 17-MAY-08 PER DIEM

    Interesting services and payments for a nonprofit that supposedly does simple canvassing work on behalf of low-income people. And now, the Obama campaign is going to wave its magic wand and change those services to get-out-the-vote work? What the…?

    For your information: The New Orleans building that houses CSI also houses multiple chapters of ACORN and the SEIU– as well as the 527 group Communities Voting Together.

    And for your information: A tipster points to shady business by CSI -detected by Maryland Democrat Al Wynn, of all people. His team, which filed an FEC complaint over the matter, linked several suspicious outfits used by his primary opponent to one address: 1024 Elysian Fields in New Orleans.

    That’s the address of CSI and ACORN.

    http://www.politickermd.com/wynn-fil...rds-766?page=1

    In a letter to the FEC, Lori Sherwood, the congressman’s campaign manager, wrote, “Based on my examination of various records and documents I believe the Donna Edwards for Congress Committee has received substantial assistance by way of unreported, in-kind contributions from organizations who profess to have operated independently of the Edwards Campaign.”

    In a lengthy complaint, Sherwood claimed that as executive director of the social justice organization the Arca Foundation, Edwards was “responsible for administering and overseeing grants that are awarded and distributed” by the group – grants that go to some of her campaign’s biggest supporters.

    “By way of example and not limitation, the Arca Foundation contributed $100,000.00 in grants to the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) from 2004-2006,” Sherwood said.

    “That after having been intimately involved in the award of an Arca grant to the LCV, Donna Edwards was appointed to the Board of Directors of the League of Conservation Voters,” she continued. “After receipt of grant money from Ms. Edward’s group and her appointment to the LCV Board, LCV endorsed Donna Edwards for Congress in 2006 and 2008.”

    Sherwood goes on to allege that the “LCV and its principals contributed over $15,000.00 to the Edwards campaign through its board members, employees, and the LCV PAC.”
    Tip of the iceberg:

    Sherwood said the 527 group Communities Voting Together(CTV), which is located at 1024 Elysian Fields in New Orleans, was also the address for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 100, and theaddress of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN),along with the Elysian Fields Corporation.

    “Wade Rathke, President of Elysian Fields Corporation is also the chief organizer for SEIU Local 100, founder of ACORN, and a member of the Board of Directors of Tides Center and Tides Foundation,” Sherwood said while alleging that Tides, a social justice network, “received $245,000 ingrant money” from the Arca Foundation from 2002-2006.

    She continued, saying, “Donna Pharr is the Custodian of Record for Communities Voting Together, the Assistant Treasurer for ACORN, andDeputy Treasurer for the American Institute for Social Justice and Voting forAmerica, Inc. Both of these organizations received a combined total of $230,000 in grants from Arca between 2003 and 2006.”

    Sherwood also said members of the CTV “printed and distributed thousands of handouts attacking Congressman Wynn,” while they also attempted “to hire canvassers to assist the Edwards campaign.”

    She continued, saying, “Donna Pharr is the Custodian of Record for Communities Voting Together, the Assistant Treasurer for ACORN, and Deputy Treasurer for the American Institute for Social Justice and Voting for America, Inc. Both of these organizations received a combined total of $230,000 in grants from Arca between 2003 and 2006.”

    Sherwood also said members of the CTV “printed and distributed thousands of handouts attacking Congressman Wynn,” while they also attempted “to hire canvassers to assist the Edwards campaign.”

    In addition, Sherwood said she also learned of a relationship between the Edwards [campaign] and another not for profit, Citizens Services, Inc., a Louisiana corporation also claiming the address 1024 Elysian Fields in New Orleans.

    “I learned that Citizens Services, Inc. qualified to do business in Maryland as a foreign corporation and gave a registered agent address of 11 East Chase St., in Baltimore,” Sherwood said.

    “In checking to verify the address, I learned that there is no record of Citizen Services, Inc. actually having an office in Baltimore,” she added. “According to recent records from the Maryland State Department of Taxation and Assessments Citizens Services, Inc.’s ability to do business in Maryland was forfeited less than 2 months after the 2006 primary.”

    Sherwood alleged that the Edwards campaign paid Citizens Services a total of $76,866.80 in three separate payments in a door to door get out the vote effort.

    There is at least one other example of suspiciously large payments to Citizens Services, Inc. that call into question what kind of work this non-partisan, non-profit is doing.

    See here, where liberal group Ohio Citizen Action notes a $907,808 payment to Citizens Services for canvassing and $590,526.10 for “campaign consulting.” That’s some gold-plated get-out-the-vote and consulting services right there. http://www.ohiocitizen.org/about/tra...derations.html
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

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