More Bad News

Here comes ACORN!

There are two articles on ACORN: the first on its mob tactics; the second on
ACORN “partnering” with our govt for the 2010 census. God help us.

~ Eowyn
…………………….

Hill panel testimony to accuse ACORN of mob tactics

S.A. Miller (Contact)
Thursday, March 19, 2009

A lawyer for a whistleblower on the activist group ACORN is prepared to tell a
House panel Thursday that the group provided liberal causes with
protest-for-hire services and coerced donations from the targets of
demonstrations through a mob-style “protection” racket.

ACORN called it the “muscle for the money” program, according to prepared
testimony Pittsburgh lawyer Heather Heidelbaugh plans to deliver at a hearing
of the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, civil rights and civil
liberties.

A copy of her prepared testimony was obtained by The Washington Times.

The protest shakedowns are among a slew of accusations that Ms. Heidelbaugh
intends to make against the Association of Community Organizations for Reform
Now. She also will accuse the nonprofit group of violating tax,
campaign-finance and other laws by sharing a list of President Obama’s
maxed-out campaign donors to solicit more funds for a get-out-the-vote drive.

The accusations, which are based entirely on sworn court testimony late last
year by ACORN whistleblower Anita Moncrief, range from unlawfully coordinating
campaign activity with Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign to deliberately
engaging in voter-registration fraud and misusing federal grant money.

ACORN officials say none of the charges is true, though they declined to respond
to any of the separate claims.

“None of this wild and varied list of charges has any credibility, and we’re not
going to spend our time on it,” said Kevin Whelan, ACORN deputy political
director. He said the group’s voter-registration drive succeeded in bringing
many disaffected minority and low-income voters into the democratic process.

Ms. Heidelbaugh, a member of the executive committee of the Republican National
Lawyers Association, spearheaded an unsuccessful lawsuit last year seeking a
court injunction in Pennsylvania against ACORN’s voter-registration drive for
the 2008 presidential campaign.

Republican members of the committee invited her to appear as a witness.

Ms. Moncrief, who worked for years as a clerk at the ACORN office in the
District before being fired for charging about $2,000 in personal expenses on
an ACORN credit card, is not scheduled to testify. Ms. Heidelbaugh said the
whistleblower will be present as a guest at the hearing.

ACORN’s Mr. Whelan said Ms. Moncrief was never a part of the organization’s
management and was fired for stealing.

“Nothing she says has any credibility,” he said.

Ms. Heidelbaugh called Ms. Moncrief a “courageous woman” who has withstood
threats of violence to shed light on what goes on at ACORN.

The prepared testimony described two facets of the “muscle for the money”
program, an official and unofficial program.

The “official” program is the name of the ACORN voter-registration drives. The
Obama campaign paid an ACORN affiliate group more than $800,000 for these
get-out-the-vote services during the primary race, though the expenditure was
initially misrepresented to the Federal Election Commission as for “sound and
lighting equipment,” but later corrected.

The “unofficial” program collected payments to organize protests. For example,
the Service Employees International Union hired ACORN to harass the Carlyle
Group, a global private equity firm. Other paid protests targeted
Sherwin-Williams, H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt and Money Mart, according to the
testimony.

The protests then became a way to extract corporate donations.

“The protesting was used to get companies to negotiate. The companies would pay
money to get the protesting to stop,” Ms. Heidelbaugh said, quoting Ms.
Moncrief’s court testimony. “In addition to calling this activity ‘Muscle for
the Money,’ the insiders at ACORN called it ‘protection.’ “

The hearing likely will rekindle criticism of the financial ties and close
cooperation between Mr. Obama’s campaign and ACORN and its sister organizations
Citizens Services Inc. and Project Vote.

The groups came under fire during the campaign after probes into suspected voter
fraud in a series of presidential battleground states, including Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Mexico and Nevada.

——————————————————————————–

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/acorn_census_partner/2009/03/18/193218.html?s=al&promo_code=7C64-1

Newsmax.com
ACORN to Partner With Government for 2010 Census
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 9:07 AM  By: Dave Eberhart

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform (ACORN) is now a “national
partner” with the U.S. Census Bureau, soon to help the White House find 1.4
million workers to canvass for the country’s 2010 census. If the acronym rings
a bell, it’s because the organization has a history of voter fraud charges in
the last election cycle, according to a report by FOXNews.com.

ACORN will be joining with more than 250 national partners, including TARGET and
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), to
assist in the hiring of census workers around the country.

ACORN spokesman Scott Levenson told FOXNews.com, “ACORN as an organization has
not been charged with any crime,” adding that concerns that the organization
will unfairly influence the census are unfounded. (If hired personnel are
accused and convicted of voter fraud on behalf of the organizations charter,
are they somehow separate from the organization? Ed.)

The U.S. Census Bureau has also gone on the defensive.

“The Census (Bureau) is a nonpartisan, non-political agency and we’re very
dedicated to an accurate account,” bureau spokesman Stephen Buckner told
FOXNews.com. “We have a lot of quality controls in place to keep any kind of
systemic error or fraudulent behavior to affect the counts.” Buckner said
140,000 census taker jobs must be filled to complete the first phase of the
effort. Each applicant, he emphasized, must take a basic skills exam and is
also subject to an FBI background check.

But there are many who remain concerned about the organization’s role.

“ACORN has been accused of voter fraud, embezzlement, and more… and yet this
is a group that the federal government wants helping with the census?” asks
Bobby Eberle of GOPUSA.

“It’s a concern, especially when you look at all the different charges of voter
fraud. And it’s not just the lawmakers’ concern. It should be the concern of
every citizen in the country,” Rep. Lynn A. Westmoreland, R-Ga., vice ranking
member of the subcommittee for the U.S. Census, told FOXNews.com. “We want an
enumeration. We don’t want to have any false numbers.”

ACORN came under assault in 2007 when Washington State filed felony charges
against several paid ACORN employees and supervisors for more than 1,700
fraudulent voter registrations. In March 2008, an ACORN worker in Pennsylvania
was sentenced for making 29 fraudulent voter registration forms.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a member of the House census
subcommittee, said, “I feel fairly confident that the penalties for an
individual manipulating the count are pretty severe,” noting that the penalties
would certainly deter any fraud in the counting by workers. The penalty for any
fraudulent activity can be up to five years in jail.

The census count is critical to both politicians and states because it not only
determines congressional allocation, but it also provides the raw data by which
government spending is allocated on everything from roads to schools.

© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

—– End forwarded message —–

—–Inline Attachment Follows—–

 

 

Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2009 6:25 PM

Subject: RE: ACORN TO DO 2010 CENSUS… WILL OUTRAGES NEVER END?

A little extra to go with Chet’s Article!

 

Hill panel testimony to accuse ACORN of mob tactics

S.A. Miller (Contact)
Thursday, March 19, 2009

A lawyer for a whistleblower on the activist group ACORN is prepared to tell a House panel Thursday that the group provided liberal causes with protest-for-hire services and coerced donations from the targets of demonstrations through a mob-style “protection” racket.

ACORN called it the “muscle for the money” program, according to prepared testimony Pittsburgh lawyer Heather Heidelbaugh plans to deliver at a hearing of the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, civil rights and civil liberties.

A copy of her prepared testimony was obtained by The Washington Times.

The protest shakedowns are among a slew of accusations that Ms. Heidelbaugh intends to make against the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. She also will accuse the nonprofit group of violating tax, campaign-finance and other laws by sharing a list of President Obama’s maxed-out campaign donors to solicit more funds for a get-out-the-vote drive.

The accusations, which are based entirely on sworn court testimony late last year by ACORN whistleblower Anita Moncrief, range from unlawfully coordinating campaign activity with Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign to deliberately engaging in voter-registration fraud and misusing federal grant money.

ACORN officials say none of the charges is true, though they declined to respond to any of the separate claims.

“None of this wild and varied list of charges has any credibility, and we’re not going to spend our time on it,” said Kevin Whelan, ACORN deputy political director. He said the group’s voter-registration drive succeeded in bringing many disaffected minority and low-income voters into the democratic process.

Ms. Heidelbaugh, a member of the executive committee of the Republican National Lawyers Association, spearheaded an unsuccessful lawsuit last year seeking a court injunction in Pennsylvania against ACORN’s voter-registration drive for the 2008 presidential campaign.

Republican members of the committee invited her to appear as a witness.

Ms. Moncrief, who worked for years as a clerk at the ACORN office in the District before being fired for charging about $2,000 in personal expenses on an ACORN credit card, is not scheduled to testify. Ms. Heidelbaugh said the whistleblower will be present as a guest at the hearing.

ACORN’s Mr. Whelan said Ms. Moncrief was never a part of the organization’s management and was fired for stealing.

“Nothing she says has any credibility,” he said.

Ms. Heidelbaugh called Ms. Moncrief a “courageous woman” who has withstood threats of violence to shed light on what goes on at ACORN.

The prepared testimony described two facets of the “muscle for the money” program, an official and unofficial program.

The “official” program is the name of the ACORN voter-registration drives. The Obama campaign paid an ACORN affiliate group more than $800,000 for these get-out-the-vote services during the primary race, though the expenditure was initially misrepresented to the Federal Election Commission as for “sound and lighting equipment,” but later corrected.

The “unofficial” program collected payments to organize protests. For example, the Service Employees International Union hired ACORN to harass the Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm. Other paid protests targeted Sherwin-Williams, H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt and Money Mart, according to the testimony.

The protests then became a way to extract corporate donations.

“The protesting was used to get companies to negotiate. The companies would pay money to get the protesting to stop,” Ms. Heidelbaugh said, quoting Ms. Moncrief’s court testimony. “In addition to calling this activity ‘Muscle for the Money,’ the insiders at ACORN called it ‘protection.’ ”

The hearing likely will rekindle criticism of the financial ties and close cooperation between Mr. Obama’s campaign and ACORN and its sister organizations Citizens Services Inc. and Project Vote.

The groups came under fire during the campaign after probes into suspected voter fraud in a series of presidential battleground states, including Ohio , Pennsylvania , Michigan , New Mexico and Nevada .

 

 

Just say NO to Socialism!

---

 

 

 

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/acorn_census_partner/2009/03/18/193218.html?s=al&promo_code=7C64-1

 

Newsmax.com

ACORN to Partner With Government for 2010 Census

Wednesday, March 18, 2009 9:07 AM  By: Dave Eberhart

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform (ACORN) is now a “national partner” with the U.S. Census Bureau, soon to help the White House find 1.4 million workers to canvass for the country’s 2010 census. If the acronym rings a bell, it’s because the organization has a history of voter fraud charges in the last election cycle, according to a report by FOXNews.com.

ACORN will be joining with more than 250 national partners, including TARGET and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), to assist in the hiring of census workers around the country.

ACORN spokesman Scott Levenson told FOXNews.com, “ACORN as an organization has not been charged with any crime,” adding that concerns that the organization will unfairly influence the census are unfounded. (If hired personnel are accused and convicted of voter fraud on behalf of the organizations charter, are they somehow separate from the organization? Ed.)

The U.S. Census Bureau has also gone on the defensive.

“The Census (Bureau) is a nonpartisan, non-political agency and we’re very dedicated to an accurate account,” bureau spokesman Stephen Buckner told FOXNews.com. “We have a lot of quality controls in place to keep any kind of systemic error or fraudulent behavior to affect the counts.” Buckner said 140,000 census taker jobs must be filled to complete the first phase of the effort. Each applicant, he emphasized, must take a basic skills exam and is also subject to an FBI background check.

But there are many who remain concerned about the organization’s role.

“ACORN has been accused of voter fraud, embezzlement, and more… and yet this is a group that the federal government wants helping with the census?” asks Bobby Eberle of GOPUSA.

“It’s a concern, especially when you look at all the different charges of voter fraud. And it’s not just the lawmakers’ concern. It should be the concern of every citizen in the country,” Rep. Lynn A. Westmoreland, R-Ga., vice ranking member of the subcommittee for the U.S. Census, told FOXNews.com. “We want an enumeration. We don’t want to have any false numbers.”

ACORN came under assault in 2007 when Washington State filed felony charges against several paid ACORN employees and supervisors for more than 1,700 fraudulent voter registrations. In March 2008, an ACORN worker in Pennsylvania was sentenced for making 29 fraudulent voter registration forms.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a member of the House census subcommittee, said, “I feel fairly confident that the penalties for an individual manipulating the count are pretty severe,” noting that the penalties would certainly deter any fraud in the counting by workers. The penalty for any fraudulent activity can be up to five years in jail.

The census count is critical to both politicians and states because it not only determines congressional allocation, but it also provides the raw data by which government spending is allocated on everything from roads to schools.

© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

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