ACORN employees enable child prostitution & tax fraud

[Seven Words]

Tjol, you hit upon the ESSENCE of political investigative journalism. I think ACORN involvement in the Census is a Bad Idea, but hopefully events like this, while regrettable, will either get ACORN removed from the Census, or at least fear of being discovered will lead miscreants to clean up their act.

[Tjol]

Tjol, you hit upon the ESSENCE of political investigative journalism. I think ACORN involvement in the Census is a Bad Idea, but hopefully events like this, while regrettable, will either get ACORN removed from the Census, or at least fear of being discovered will lead miscreants to clean up their act.

I think there's an element of deconstructivism involved with this too. Not that liberal = deconstructivist, but the ACORN people on the video, whether they know it or not, seem to come from a 'break the sytem, so it can be rebuilt as a better system' mind set. They did expect to profit from cheating the law, but it seemed more that they thought that it was noble to help people flaunt the law than anything else.

I don't how much that fits the typical ACORN member. What's your impression, is ACORN more from the bent of improving the existing system, or are they of the bent to want to break and rebuild?

[Seven Words]

I'd say, improve, but with a strong minority of break.

[Zarathustra]

Senate Votes to Cut Off ACORN Housing Funding

[High Lord Tolkien]

www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/09/14/dan- ... ia-ignore/


ACORN Story Grows But Mainstream Media Refuse to Cover It


Bruce Springsteen once wrote: “From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come).” I doubt he expected that story of love gone wrong would become ideal political commentary for the group known as ACORN.

The small scandal showing an embarrassing video of Baltimore ACORN staffers looking like they were giving tax advice on how to set up a brothel, is now national news. -- This story has everything you could ever want – corruption, sleazy actions at tax-funded organizations, firings, government ties, sex, hookers. It is a network news director’s dream. Imagine the ratings!

Only almost no one is covering it.

This is the news media in the era of Van Jones and President Obama. The major outlets cover what they want and create the themes they want. When they find something inconvenient, they let it pass. They didn’t like the Van Jones story, so they ignored it. The network news media liked the financial entity known as Fannie Mae, so they ignored that scandalous organization for years. ACORN is getting the same treatment.

But it isn’t working any more. The ACORN fiasco has now impacted three offices – Baltimore, Washington and New York – with laugh-out-loud videos reminiscent of the hookers and pimps from the 1970s “Starsky and Hutch” show. Huggy Bear returns! Four employees have been fired, with more likely to come. And the controversy was so laughably bad that the Census Bureau cut off all ties to the group known formally as the "Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now." -- They called it the “tipping point” to shed themselves of ACORN. More nuts for someone else, I guess.

And yet. And yet it’s still been ignored by the network news. Nothing on ABC, CBS or NBC. The only thing any one of the three broadcast networks has done appeared in a blog post by ABC’s Jake Tapper. It's hardly worth noting except to show that the networks know about what’s going on. They just don’t care to report it. Only FOX News has bothered to report on the controversy.

The video scandal is only part of the fiasco that is this Saul Alinsky-esque community group. Just last week CNN reported that other ACORN employees were arrested in Florida. “Arrest warrants were issued Wednesday for 11 Florida voter registration workers who are suspected of submitting false information on hundreds of voter registration cards, according to court documents,” said CNN.

That’s typical. The Web site "Rotten ACORN" is devoted to election fraud complaints against the organization. The site’s map shows 14 different states where complaints have been filed. The last time any one of the broadcast networks talked about that was before the 2008 presidential election. That was NBC on Nov. 1. Nothing since.

Yes, the newspapers have taken a passing glance at the video story. The Post wrote about the firings in D.C. The New York Times ran a story by the Associated Press. Nothing more. I am underwhelmed. At least the Times covered it this time. With Jones, the Times waited until he had resigned to report he was under fire.

What’s worse with ACORN is that we’re paying for all this. At least in part. The Washington Examiner writes that they “found that ACORN has received at least $53 million in federal money since 1994.”

For its own part, ACORN naturally blamed someone else. In this case, FOX News, calling itself “their Willy Horton for 2009.” The ACORN state reads like a paranoid’s interpretation of the videos. Here’s Bertha Lewis, Chief Organizer, for the group:

“The relentless attacks on ACORN's members, its staff and the policies and positions we promote are unprecedented. An international entertainment conglomerate, disguising itself as a ‘news’ agency (FOX), has expended millions, if not tens of millions of dollars, in their attempt to destroy the largest community organization of Black, Latino, poor and working families in the country. It is not coincidence that the most recent attacks have been launched just when health care reform is gaining traction. It is clear they've had these tapes for months.”

Yeah, all that about under-aged prostitution, corruption and government connections isn’t news. People are just out to get ACORN. No wonder their name symbolizes a kind of nut. Too bad the rest of the media don’t want us to know that.

[[Syl]]

Seems to be a problem. A few Tailhook-like changes implemented, and they might recover over the next few years.

[Avatar]

Not sure how I feel about people trying to get them caught in compromising positions...how long after these "fakes" got their advice did the story break in each case?

--A

Should someone not try to catch a government entity (which Obama has made it by including them in the administration of the coming census) in it's worst light?

Maybe they should. But catching them (anybody) in their worst light is easy if you set up a scenario to entrap them.

But my point was not so much that things like that shouldn't be done, because clearly it can be justified. My point was more along the lines of what sort of chance they had after the journalists/whoever leave, to do the right thing about what they'd just "learned?"

--A

[Cail]

Maybe they should. But catching them (anybody) in their worst light is easy if you set up a scenario to entrap them.

Ummmm, not if the person you're trying to entrap does the right thing.

[Avatar]

Well, hence the reason for my question. Is the right thing to denounce them immediately and throw them out? Or is it to play along, get their details, and then inform the cops/immigration/whoever?

--A

[Cail]

The right thing would have been to either toss them out or call the cops. These people did neither.

[sindatur]

Not sure how I feel about people trying to get them caught in compromising positions...how long after these "fakes" got their advice did the story break in each case?

--A

Should someone not try to catch a government entity (which Obama has made it by including them in the administration of the coming census) in it's worst light?

Maybe they should. But catching them (anybody) in their worst light is easy if you set up a scenario to entrap them.

But my point was not so much that things like that shouldn't be done, because clearly it can be justified. My point was more along the lines of what sort of chance they had after the journalists/whoever leave, to do the right thing about what they'd just "learned?"

--A

Just read an accusation upthread a bit that suggests the filmers sat on this for months. If true, they had months to address it after the filmers left, they could've gone to their superiors, called and set up a sting operation, etc. Since none of that happened, at least the people filmed knew exactly what they were doing and had no problem with it

[Zarathustra]

. . . and again (#4) . . .

I wonder how many of these they're sitting on?

At least in this one the lady admits that her boss would shoot this down. It's good to hear that management isn't encouraging this (at least at this branch), but it doesn't stop the woman from giving the advice on cheating the government nonetheless.

[The Dreaming]

If they discuss ACORN's origins and goals, the fact the group is liberal would be self-evident. Is there really a need to describe a gun-rights group as conservative? As an aside, I'm fairly liberal, but very much PRO-2nd Amendment. Now, the bias in the coverage? not unexpected. I don't expect FOX to really dig on conservative figures, and I don't expect much digging on liberals from the other major networks. Unless, of course, it promises massive ratings.

The very TITLE of this topic is misleading and inflammatory. I find it petty and offensive. Holding some shameful individuals up as embodying a group is no different than saying that since some priests molested children, all priests are pedophiles, or since some cops are racist every police officer is a closet Klansman (and I'm not referring to the recent Harvard issue, I'm talking about cops like one that muttered "Nigger-lover" seeing my fiancee and I walking out of Kroger last week)

But how do you excuse dropping an investigation? I think there is *certainly* grounds for one. The fact that the establishment is more worried about saving face than turning out the rascals is telling. It's enough to make a cynic more cynical.

As for the prostitution? Ooook, I mean I am a little empathetic to people flouting our silly prostitution laws (Illegal prostitution is nasty mind you, but legal prostitution is damn harmless). But the underage illegal alien prostitutes? Any human being who can hear about someone pimping underage prostitutes without immediately contacting authorities is outrageously corrupt.

That, and the Brass Balls the organization is showing by defensively threatening to counter-sue is incredibly suspicious. It's the behavior of an organization that knows its in deep shit and is fighting for it's life, not an honest one desperately trying to save face.

Yes, I would say that this makes Obama and the ruling party look pretty bad. And you know? Maybe, just maybe, it's warranted.

[Cail]

That, and the Brass Balls the organization is showing by defensively threatening to counter-sue is incredibly suspicious. It's the behavior of an organization that knows its in deep shit and is fighting for it's life, not an honest one desperately trying to save face.

Someone else brought up the Catholic Church sex scandals. Not even they went as far as to threaten to counter-sue their accusers.

This is clearly a systemic issue with ACORN, unless you believe that groups like this just draw corrupt child abusers (sort of like the way Seven Words suggested religion draws loonies).

[Seven Words]

If they discuss ACORN's origins and goals, the fact the group is liberal would be self-evident. Is there really a need to describe a gun-rights group as conservative? As an aside, I'm fairly liberal, but very much PRO-2nd Amendment. Now, the bias in the coverage? not unexpected. I don't expect FOX to really dig on conservative figures, and I don't expect much digging on liberals from the other major networks. Unless, of course, it promises massive ratings.

The very TITLE of this topic is misleading and inflammatory. I find it petty and offensive. Holding some shameful individuals up as embodying a group is no different than saying that since some priests molested children, all priests are pedophiles, or since some cops are racist every police officer is a closet Klansman (and I'm not referring to the recent Harvard issue, I'm talking about cops like one that muttered "Nigger-lover" seeing my fiancee and I walking out of Kroger last week)

But how do you excuse dropping an investigation? I think there is *certainly* grounds for one. The fact that the establishment is more worried about saving face than turning out the rascals is telling. It's enough to make a cynic more cynical.

As for the prostitution? Ooook, I mean I am a little empathetic to people flouting our silly prostitution laws (Illegal prostitution is nasty mind you, but legal prostitution is damn harmless). But the underage illegal alien prostitutes? Any human being who can hear about someone pimping underage prostitutes without immediately contacting authorities is outrageously corrupt.

That, and the Brass Balls the organization is showing by defensively threatening to counter-sue is incredibly suspicious. It's the behavior of an organization that knows its in deep shit and is fighting for it's life, not an honest one desperately trying to save face.

Yes, I would say that this makes Obama and the ruling party look pretty bad. And you know? Maybe, just maybe, it's warranted.

I'm not certain I would (without more evidence) tie Pres. Obama very deeply into what's going on. As President, and an ACORN supporter, he can and should face some questions about the group, and how deeply involved with them he is. A quashed investigation? THAT absolutely necessitates a thorough investigation and prosecution.

[Seven Words]

That, and the Brass Balls the organization is showing by defensively threatening to counter-sue is incredibly suspicious. It's the behavior of an organization that knows its in deep shit and is fighting for it's life, not an honest one desperately trying to save face.

Someone else brought up the Catholic Church sex scandals. Not even they went as far as to threaten to counter-sue their accusers.

This is clearly a systemic issue with ACORN, unless you believe that groups like this just draw corrupt child abusers (sort of like the way Seven Words suggested religion draws loonies).

Back to this? I thought Tjol and I parsed this out. Religion does not draw in loonies. Apart from a VERY tiny minority, religions (in my experience) actively try to DISSUADE loonies. Loonies SEEK OUT religion, often forming their own unique version of the faith they were raised in.

ACORN draws corrupt child abusers? No. But it's a source of power, and corrupt people gravitate to such. Just like political parties, banks, etc. It is looking like the rot is too deep in ACORN. Let's bring down the curtain on this, with thorough investigation and prosecutions.

Let's avoid a witch-hunt. Just like President Obama is fighting back the more extreme Democrats desire for an Inquisition into Bush-era policies.

[Cail]

More messy ACORN stuff.

On Monday, the U.S. Senate voted 83-7 to strip Acorn, the premier community organizing group on the left, of more than $1.6 million in federal housing money meant to assist low-income people obtain loans and prepare tax forms. This dramatic step followed last Friday's decision by the U.S. Census Bureau to sever its ties with the organization, one of several community groups it was partnering with to conduct the nation's head count.

Both of these actions came after secretly recorded videos involving employees in Acorn's Brooklyn, N.Y., Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Md. and San Bernardino, Calif. offices were televised on Fox News. The videos were recorded by two independent filmmakers who posed as a prostitute and a pimp and said they were planning to import underage women from El Salvador for the sex trade. They asked for and received advice on getting a housing loan and evading federal taxes.

In response, Acorn has so far fired four of the employees seen on the videos. But it claimed the videos were "doctored" and accused critics of a smear campaign and "racist coverage" of the incidents.

Such rhetoric in the past has deflected scrutiny of Acorn tactics, such as street demonstrations and boycotts against banks to force lower credit standards for home loans, which a congressional report found contributed to the subprime loan mess. But now Acorn may be finally running off the rails.

Last week, 11 of its workers were accused by Florida prosecutors of falsifying information on 888 voter registration forms. Last month, Acorn's former Las Vegas, Nev., field director, Christopher Edwards, agreed to testify against the group in a case in which Las Vegas election officials say 48% of the voter registration forms the group turned in were "clearly fraudulent." Acorn itself is charged with 13 counts of illegally using a quota system to compensate workers in an effort to boost the number of registrations. (Acorn has denied wrongdoing in all of these cases.)

A growing number of people once affiliated with Acorn want nothing more to do with the group. Marcel Reid, for example, was one of eight national Acorn board members who were removed last year after demanding an audit of the group's books. She notes that Acorn received $7.4 million in contributions from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) between 2005 and 2008 but actively fights unionization efforts by its own employees. Ms. Reid also notes that Acorn was sanctioned by the National Labor Relations Board in 2003 for illegally firing workers trying to organize a union.

In 1995, Acorn unsuccessfully sued California to be exempt from the minimum wage, claiming that "the more that Acorn must pay each individual outreach worker . . . the fewer outreach workers it will be able to hire." The decision to file that lawsuit was made by Wade Rathke, who founded Acorn in 1970 and was its long-time leader. He was forced by the group's board to resign last year after it found that he'd engaged in a cover-up of a nearly $1 million embezzlement of Acorn funds by his brother Dale, then the group's chief financial officer.

Mr. Rathke now the chief organizer of a New Orleans-based local of the SEIU, a key Acorn ally is out with a new book, "Citizen Wealth," in which he touts a vision of "maximum eligible participation" by Americans in welfare programs as a way to force radical social change.

Regardless of the wisdom of that vision, it's time to follow the lead of the Census Bureau and cut the government's ties to the highly dubious characters surrounding Acorn. (The group has taken in more than $53 million in direct funding from the federal government since 1994, and substantially more indirectly through states and cities that receive federal block grants.)

Acorn's allies in Congress have long stopped every move to rein it in. Rep. Steve King (R., Iowa), for example, has tried six times to get House floor votes restricting Acorn's access to federal funds but has been blocked by Speaker Nancy Pelosi's hand-picked Rules Committee members. Some Democrats have grumbled. Michigan's John Conyers, chair of the Judiciary Committee, urged a hearing be held on Acorn abuses in March, but later told the Washington Times "the powers that be decided against it."

There is a chance the latest scandals will convince Democrats that Acorn is too toxic a political partner. And President Barack Obama, who once ran a voter-registration program for an Acorn partner (Project Vote) and then worked for Acorn as a lawyer on key cases, has every incentive to distance himself further from the organization.

Former Acorn board members tell me the group has always been confident it will be protected. After the Nevada voter-registration fraud indictment last May, Bonnie Greathouse, Acorn's chief organizer in the state, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that "we've had bad publicity before" and survived. "People always come forward to our defense. We're just community organizers, just like the president used to be."

[The Dreaming]

Hurm. You think Pelosi might end up taking the fall for this? Or will she pull of another miraculous midair backflip and land on her feet again?

(*Sigh* we can dream can't we?)

[Avatar]

Just read an accusation upthread a bit that suggests the filmers sat on this for months. If true, they had months to address it after the filmers left, they could've gone to their superiors, called and set up a sting operation, etc.

If that's true, then absolutely it's unacceptable. And if it's true in all these cases, then it's doubly so, and I have to wonder if it's unofficial policy to "help" at any cost, and never call the cops.

--A

[Cail]

I would imagine that was part of the reason the filmmakers sat on the tapes for a while. There's nearly no story if everyone had been fired.