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October 10, 2008 at 00:07:05
Promoted to Headline (H3) on 10/10/08: by David Swanson Page 1 of 1 page(s) |
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ACORN has been through some scandals of its own making, but it is currently all over the news because of a pair of absolutely fraudulent and nationally coordinated attacks.
One of these attacks involves accusations of voter fraud. But, of course, "voter fraud" almost doesn't exist, and federal prosecutors have lost their jobs because they couldn't find evidence of its existence to satisfy the Bush White House. In fact, the accusations against ACORN are not about voting, but about voter registration.
Now, if some kid fills out bogus forms in order to make more money from ACORN for supposedly registering voters, ACORN is supposed to try to catch that stuff and not turn in those forms. On the whole, ACORN has registered huge numbers of people with only a tiny percentage of problems. But the more important point is that the kid trying to scam extra bucks has no intention of trying to vote multiple times, risking imprisonment, and no intention of bringing in corpses to have them vote, as CNN seems to imagine. There's no money in fraudulent voting, only enormous risk. But there is money and power in vote suppression and vote miscounting, the major stories that this one is meant to distract from.
The other attack on ACORN focuses on blaming the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) for the collapse of Wall Street. Most subprime loans, and therefore most predatory loans, are not made in order to comply with CRA. In fact, low-income and minority communities have seen a great deal of activism in recent years demanding that the predatory lenders stay out, not in. ACORN coined the phrase "predatory lending" and made news years ago by beginning a major campaign to keep loans that are worse than nothing out of neighborhoods.
Predatory loans are not loans made to the wrong kind of people. They are loans made in very deceptive ways with the aim of making the borrower believe they'll be able to pay it back, but with the aim of making them fail. Predatory mortgage lenders make money by refinancing repeatedly, extracting more fees each time, and eventually seizing the property. This is accomplished with misleading fine print that strips people of their equity through all sorts of hidden fees and charges and rate increases, and by consolidating credit card and other debt with house debt. Every year, ACORN produces a lengthy report documenting the targeting of racial minorities with these loans.
For years, ACORN has led efforts to ban predatory loans through local and state legislation, while the same gang that is now so upset about these loans being made has fought endlessly against bans and restrictions.
The good news is that the family of organizations known as ACORN is growing, raising wages, improving schools, reforming corporations, building housing, organizing active citizens, and clearly threatening the powers that be. ACORN has decidedly moved past the stage of being ignored and even the stage of being laughed at. ACORN is now being attacked. Next comes victory.
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| 8 comments |
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ACORN
Considering the number of voters signed up by ACORN, 1,300,000 I believe the fact that there were approximately 300 that are suspect equates to only .00023% of the total and unbelievably low for such a large endeavour. I congratulate them for their diligence and service to democracy and the country. by Archie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1757 comments [112 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 3:38:29 PM  (0+)
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I Did My Part For The OBAMA Campaign AND ACORN
New Mexico's voter registration period ended This past Tuesday. I've been registering voters for the Obama campaign when ACORN saw me and hired me to do it for them. When I heard the Republicans attacking them, I knew I was in the right place. In 2004, Bush won NM by around 6,000 votes. He won Valencia County, where I live, by 3,000 votes. At the Obama debate watching party Tuesday night, the local campaign had the numbers of new registrants through Sunday. The total was 3,298 new registrants here out of a total population of 61,000 in the county. So we managed to erase Bush's margin of victory here with 298 to spare. I personally registered 267 new voters and gave out forms for another 75. In my totally unscientific poll of haranguing people in front of the local Wal-mart, the numbers add up to 70% Obama and 30% McCain, with the only people voting McCain the dyed-in-the-wool fundies and the die-hard gun nuts. For the gun nuts, I asked them why the Republicans confiscated legally-owned firearms from law-abiding citizens after Katrina. For the Fundies, I asked why the Bush admin. is killing all the Israelites in Afghanistan and preventing the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. by Ishmael1 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 50 comments [7 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 5:22:23 PM (0+)
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Acorn is the nut
I choose to keep my guns and religion, Freddie Mac and Fannie May are just another failed democratic idea which would financialy bankrupt America, and now we want a democratic elect to finish the job with more freebees. If you would wake up, you'd see the decline of America started two years ago when you elected Pelosi for change... lets register all the home-less (as many times as we can) so your Democratic Party can flush the toilet when they are done... I forgot your party thinks it more fun choose not to flush.......... by don bybee (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 206 comments) on Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 6:09:54 PM (0+)
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Reply: Don the decline started with Bush
You and all your religious fantics and neo-cons have destroyed this country. You have had control of everything from 2000-2006. Only recently have the Democrats been able to slow the bleeding from the insane policies of the Bush administration. We have been heading off a cliff for awhile and I am amazed it didn't happen two years ago. Now the question is can the country be saved and rebuilt. Bush and the Republicans has presided over the single largest increase in Government EVER. Bush and the Republicans have taken surpluses left by Clinton and turned them into deficits and have doubled the national debt to 10 trillion dollars. Bush and the Republicans and made the US reviled around the world and has for the first time in our history made it okay to torture people. Oil companies and defense contractors have seen record profits and yet still receive tax benefits out of our pockets. Bush and the Republicans has led us into a complete energy crisis. Bush and the Republicans have overseen scandal after scandal after scandal. I can't even keep track anymore. by E. Nelson (40 articles, 8 quicklinks, 26 diaries, 511 comments [57 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 7:26:25 PM (0+)
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Reply: Then Why Are The Republicans Killing The Israelites?
You need to look at these clips taken from Simcha Jacobovici's "Quest For The Lost Tribes". He finds that the Pushtun of Afghanistan are actually 6 of the 10 lost Tribes of the Israelites. Since Biblical Prophecy says the Third Temple can't be rebuilt until their return, why isn't the Bush administration DNA testing these guys and informing them of their status under Israel's Right of Return law? Like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U48n5-GfLnQ Or this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZvuM8VrX9I Or this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVRS-hvTcEU Or this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oghgoov6LY4 I know they're the Israelites, They know they're the Israelites. Why don't YOU know that. Now that you DO know, What are YOU going to do about it? by Ishmael1 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 50 comments [7 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 6:59:09 PM (0+)
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ACORN ? Or Republicans?
ACORN Statement Regarding Las Vegas Voter Registration Over the past year, ACORN has worked hard to help over 80,000 people in Clark County register to vote. Hundreds of canvassers and volunteers have worked for months talking to citizens from Nevada's most disenfranchised communities and encouraging them to exercise their right to participate in our democracy. Their work has been tireless-they deserve a great deal of credit for spending days in the hot sun at public places from parks to community centers to shopping centers helping citizens complete voter registration applications. Most of the 80,000 registrations they have collected and turned in to election officials come from young people, low income people and minorities - the very people whose voices are too often left out of our electorate. As part of our nonpartisan voter registration program, ACORN staff reviews every single application submitted by our canvassers. Special, dedicated staff makes up to three phone calls attempting to reach the voter listed on EVERY SINGLE CARD before they are turned in to verify the information. Our callers verify the information on the cards before turning them in to election officials to make sure that as many new voters as possible get on the rolls and to make sure that all of our voter registration workers are doing the high quality work they are trained to do. While the vast majority of our voter registration canvassers do a great job, there have been several times over the past ten months that our Las Vegas Quality Control program has identified a canvasser who appears to have knowingly submitted a fake or duplicate application in order to pad his or her hours. Anytime ACORN quality control staff has identified a suspicious application, we have separated that application out and flagged it for election officials. We turn any suspicious applications to election officials separately, along with a cover sheet identifying the nature of the problem and an offer to provide election officials with the information they would need to pursue an investigation or prosecution of the individual. (Note that civic organizations are required by law to turn over ANY signed voter registration applications even when they are known to have problems). We immediately dismiss any employees we suspect of submitting fraudulent registrations. It was surprising that law enforcement officials appeared suddenly at our Las Vegas offices yesterday, because ACORN and its attorneys have already been proactive in providing information about problematic cards and any employee suspected of misconduct. In July, ACORN staff and our attorney set up a meeting with Clark County elections officials and a representative of the Secretary of State's office to urge them to take action on information ACORN had provided. Since then, and as recently as September 29th, ACORN has provided officials with copies and-in some cases-second copies of many of the personnel records and the "problem card packages" and cover sheets with which we originally identified the problem cards. ACORN is a community organization dedicated to making everyone's voice count in the vital public policy debates in our country. Helping citizens become active voters is a crucial part of our work to help build a fairer and more inclusive democracy. We will continue with this important work by encouraging every eligible voter to the polls this November. NY times WASHINGTON, April 11 — Five years after the Bush administration began a crackdown on voter fraud, the Justice Department has turned up virtually no evidence of any organized effort to skew federal elections, according to court records and interviews. Although Republican activists have repeatedly said fraud is so widespread that it has corrupted the political process and, possibly, cost the party election victories, about 120 people have been charged and 86 convicted as of last year. Most of those charged have been Democrats, voting records show. Many of those charged by the Justice Department appear to have mistakenly filled out registration forms or misunderstood eligibility rules, a review of court records and interviews with prosecutors and defense lawyers show. In Miami, an assistant United States attorney said many cases there involved what were apparently mistakes by immigrants, not fraud. Mistakes and lapses in enforcing voting and registration rules routinely occur in elections, allowing thousands of ineligible voters to go to the polls. But the federal cases provide little evidence of widespread, organized fraud, prosecutors and election law experts said. “There was nothing that we uncovered that suggested some sort of concerted effort to tilt the election,” Richard G. Frohling, an assistant United States attorney in Milwaukee, said. Richard L. Hasen, an expert in election law at the Loyola Law School, agreed, saying: “If they found a single case of a conspiracy to affect the outcome of a Congressional election or a statewide election, that would be significant. But what we see is isolated, small-scale activities that often have not shown any kind of criminal intent.” The push to prosecute voter fraud figured in the removals last year of at least two United States attorneys whom Republican politicians or party officials had criticized for failing to pursue cases. The campaign has roiled the Justice Department in other ways, as career lawyers clashed with a political appointee over protecting voters’ rights, and several specialists in election law were installed as top prosecutors. The Republican National Committee and its state organizations supported the push, repeatedly calling for a crackdown. In what would become a pattern, Republican officials and lawmakers in a number of states, including Florida, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington, made accusations of widespread abuse, often involving thousands of votes. In swing states, including Ohio and Wisconsin, party leaders conducted inquiries to find people who may have voted improperly and prodded officials to act on their findings. But the party officials and lawmakers were often disappointed. The accusations led to relatively few cases, and a significant number resulted in acquittals. Previous guidelines had barred federal prosecutions of “isolated acts of individual wrongdoing” that were not part of schemes to corrupt elections. In most cases, prosecutors also had to prove an intent to commit fraud, not just an improper action. That standard made some federal prosecutors uneasy about proceeding with charges, including David C. Iglesias, who was the United States attorney in New Mexico, and John McKay, the United States attorney in Seattle. Although both found instances of improper registration or voting, they declined to bring charges, drawing criticism from prominent Republicans in their states. In Mr. Iglesias’s case, the complaints went to Mr. Bush. Both prosecutors were among those removed in December. by LYNNE KRINGLER (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 70 comments) on Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 9:13:12 PM (0+)
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poor dumbed down americans
Can't they see the light? First, who in the hell would register to vote if just to be facticious? I mean, when you register to vote, you then get put into a Jury Pool to be selected at 'their' will. You are 'On record' to a greater extent; therefore, if you are an "illegal Immigrant" hiding from the LAW, the last gd thing you want to do is 'register to vote'. Then these republicans and their spin masters try to tell Americans (sheeple) that people are actually "illegally" registering to get their name further "in lights". My gawd, how stoopid can sheeple get? Boy, when was the last time you heard someone say, "yippee --jury duty!" ?? ? You dont' have to get up too early in the morning to stay ahead of Bush's brain. That is for gd sure. However, sheeple just keep sucking down the koolaid shibboleth and misapplications of info, and misrepresentation of facts( Lies). I can feel the Tsunami of ACORN bashing coming...I can hear the pounding of the sheeple's hoofs. Here come MSM to jump on the wagon of smear ACORN. Mac is way down in all the polls except the MSM polls which always rest at the "average" or median split of 50/50 or there about and outliers don't seem to count. Karl, change your pants, instead of OUR votes. Registration is UP because ppl are pissed... really really seriously angry. What is this now, Bush's 4rth bankrutcy ? Course the others were businesses and this time it is a dang COUNTRY. "Republican credit cards ain't any good", the old man down the road said. I agree. by shirley reese (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 592 comments [98 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 at 11:43:03 AM (0+)
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ACORN & housing
Housing,"affordable"--sometimes referring to the old Section 8 beginnings and where that is today--and how to have adequate units close to jobs since gasoline is so expensive. In larger cities where Interstates re-arranged living and working, white flight was a new style of living. For those left in inner cities, it was kissing job opportunities good-bye. So 80-ish! Now whoever is jamming the freeways is yelling for mercy, as are auto workers in Detroit and even here in the South where unions do not hold sway. So, ACORN needs to be especially careful not to ask for little communities in areas where jobs are scarce. Instead of looking to old-time community organizers of the 80s, I have a new idea. How can current organizers work on organizing existing communities to complement each other in regard to commerce? We see this in new Industrial Parks concentrating on living space and technology offices in one place. Is it possible to create exurban areas for truck farming, and other activities? OEN member Yvona Fast brought this group to my attention. by Margaret Bassett (45 articles, 2910 quicklinks, 43 diaries, 1853 comments [99 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Oct 12, 2008 at 2:47:44 PM (0+)
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