Political Corruption: Congressman slams ACORN Census participation

"Pick the Target, Freeze It, Personalize It  and Polarize It." 
 - Barack Obama mentor Saul Alinsky in Rules for Radicals.  Barack Obama taught this to ACORN followers in all his Community Organizing classes in Chicago.

Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Ranking Member on the Census Oversight Subcommittee, sent a letter to the US Census Bureau concerning its partnership with ACORN. While the Bureau has reported to Congress that ACORN is not recruiting census workers, internal documents contradict this claim.

Assuming the Bureau can reconcile these contradictions and verify that ACORN has been instructed not to recruit census workers, Congressman McHenry asked, “If ACORN has been singled out in such a manner because of its long criminal history, it begs the question, why are they a national partner in the first place?  If they cannot be trusted to recruit enumerators, it would seem to me that ACORN should be disqualified as a partner altogether.”

This is just the latest in the ongoing saga of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now or ACORN. The allegations of voter registration fraud still linger and many observers believe ACORN participation in the 2010 Census will lead to fraudulent statistics.

Voter registration fraud is a serious problem that endangers the security of our elections and puts legitimate voters at risk of having their ballots devalued or stolen. If a person -- such as an illegal alien or convicted felon -- casts an illegal ballot, that vote cancels out a legitimate voter's ballot.

To combat this fraud, Congress made such acts a serious federal crime. It is therefore deeply troubling to read continued reports of alleged voter registration fraud in many of the states that are considered to be "battleground states" and where the margin of victory or loss could be small. Just as troubling is the failure of the Obama Justice Department to investigate this and other crimes linked to voters' rights, such as members of the New Black Panthers intimidating Americans at the polls.

President Barack Obama's ties to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- the nation's largest organization of community activists -- include training ACORN employees, providing legal representation to the group, receiving their endorsement for his presidential bid, and compensating a known subsidiary.

One story that got short shrift by many reporters, is the $800,000.00 donation to ACORN by the Obama campaign. Obama spokespersons told reporters who managed to ask about the ACORN gift were told that the donation was a bookkeeping error. Case closed.

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune, the campaign originally “misrepresented” the group’s work to the FEC.

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.” (David M. Brown, “Obama To Amend Report On $800,000 In Spending,” Pittsburgh Tribune Review, 8/22/08)

As Obama once said said, "The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree," and in this case, he's exactly right.

Obama's spokespersons also claimed he had a limited relationship with ACORN. However, the record shows that "[Obama] says he was drawn to politics, despite its superficialities, as a means to advance his real passion and calling: community organization. In 1992 Obama took time off to direct Project Vote, the most successful grass-roots voter-registration campaign in recent city history."

"Credited with helping elect Carol Moseley-Braun to the US Senate, the registration drive, aimed primarily at African-Americans, added an estimated 125,000 voters to the voter rolls -- even more than were registered during Harold Washington's mayoral campaigns.

"‘It's a power thing,’ said the brochures and radio commercials. … Obama continues his organizing work largely through classes for future leaders identified by ACORN and the Centers for New Horizons on the south side.” (Hank De Zutter, Op-Ed, “What Makes Obama Run?” Chicago Reader, 12/8/95)."

In the past, ACORN officials admitted to submitting fraudulent voter registration forms in Ohio and press reports confirmed that ACORN submitted hundreds of fraudulent voter registration forms in Kansas City, Missouri, forcing local officials to wade through fraudulent voter registrations, potentially disenfranchising legitimate voters.

Unfortunately, with the Democrat Party in complete control of both houses of Congress and the White House, the chances of seeing a full investigation of ACORN's alleged illegal activities are slim or none. And don't hold your breath for the likes of the New York Times, Washington Post, or the major broadcast news media to investigate this story.