ACORN video scandal leads to questions about Obama connection

With the ACORN scandal growing everyday questions are beginning to arise about President Obama's connections to the group and the effect that may have had on the 2008 presidential election.

President Obama has remained silent on the ACORN scandal to this point, some see that as an attempt to keep distance between himself and the embattled group. Obama repeatedly minimized his association with the community activist organization during the 2008 presidential campaign, but his involvement with ACORN was extensive and dates back to at least 1990.

At the same time Obama was downplaying his connection to ACORN Americans were told over and over again about Obama's success as a community organizer and how he would use those skills to help bring "change" to America. What was Obama's role in ACORN?

The record shows Obama lead Project Vote for ACORN in 1992. In 1993 he also helped obtain funding for ACORN while working with the anti-poverty group the Woods Fund of Chicago. In 1994, Obama served as an attorney for ACORN in Buycks-Roberson v. Citibank Federal Savings Bank case, which many experts believe was the beginning of the mortgage crisis. In 1995, he sued the State of Illinois on behalf of ACORN.

During Obama's 2007 speech to ACORN he promised the group they would "have input into shaping the next presidency of the United States Of America." In August 2008, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that the Obama campaign donated $832,598.29 to Citizens Services Inc., an ACORN "offshoot", for "get out the vote" projects. Those donations were completely legal.

However, as a 501(c)(3) organization ACORN was prevented by law from using the money to promote any specific candidates. It is widely known that ACORN branches across the country urged voters to support Obama. Reportedly there is also evidence that members of the Obama campaign were in direct contact with ACORN leaders during that time.

Add that to the fact that ACORN is under investigation in more than a dozen states on allegations of voter fraud. ACORN has admitted they were directly responsible for submitting more than 400,000 fraudulent voter registration forms. It seems possible that there may have been serious problems with the 2008 election as a result of the ACORN voter fraud. Was the Obama campaign involved, or did they have knowledge of the fraud as it was occuring?

On his afternoon Fox News show on Friday, Glenn Beck pointed out the connections between ACORN, The Apollo Alliance, SEIU, and other groups, and to radicals from the 1960's and 1970's who he says are still actively pursuing their goal of "collapsing the system" and replacing it with a socialist government.

What is the Apollo Alliance? Their own desciption may sound very familiar to those who followed the 2008 presidential campaign, and is very similar to the mantra of the Obama administration.

"The Apollo Alliance provides a message of optimism and hope, framed around rejuvenating our nation’s economy by creating the next generation of American industrial jobs and treating clean energy as an economic and security mandate to rebuild America."

The director of the Apollo Alliance's New York office is Jeff Jones. Jones was a co-founder of the Weather Underground terrorist group, along with William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn.

Obama also downplayed his connection to Ayers during the 2008 campaign, but a closer look shows there may be more than meets the eye there. Valerie Jarrett,  Obama's Senior Advisor, has an Ayers connection herself. Her mother knew  Ayers father and they worked on at least one education project together. Jarrett describes Obama as being "like a brother".

Obama and Ayers were members of the board of the Woods Fund of Chicago, between 1999 and 2002. They lived within a few blocks of each other in the upscale Hyde Park section of Chicago, and both men ran in the same liberal/progressive circles. They both know many of the same people. many people contend it's a stretch to ask anyone to believe that the two men barely knew each other.

Van Jones, the controversial former "Green Jobs Czar" who recently resigned after public furor over his inflammatory racial comments and his past admission to being a communist, is also now with the New York State branch of the Apollo Alliance. Beck warned after the resignation that Jones would not go away, he would just be moved and would continue to advise the president and help shape Obama adminstration policies.

How could Jones have an affect on Obama's policies while at the Apollo Alliance?

The Apollo Alliance apparently has the full faith and trust of Obama and his administration. The group helped write President Obama's stimulus bill.

“This legislation is the first step in building a clean energy economy that creates jobs and moves us closer to solving our enormous energy and environmental challenges,” said Senate Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid, D-NV at the time. “We’ve talked about moving forward on these ideas for decades. The Apollo Alliance has been an important factor in helping us develop and execute a strategy that makes great progress on these goals and in motivating the public to support them.”

Many people are questioning how a group with ties to the Weather Underground, which was repsonsible for the bombing of the Pentagon, and for several other bombings and violent acts in the U.S. from the late 60's through the mid-70's, could be helping shape Obama administration policies.

Beck presents a compelling arguement and makes a very believable connection between all of these organizations and other groups, and to the people who run them, who have for years advocated an end to capitalism and favor a change to a socialist form of government. Some openly, and others behind the scenes.

Critics have charged Beck with being a conspiracy theorist, a fear-monger, a racist, and as just a plain nutjob. However, when you look closely at the connections it seems impossible to believe that all of this is just one big coincidence, as Beck's detractors claim.

Many lawmakers are calling for a Federal investigation into ACORN. So far such a probe has not been ordered, but if an investigation is ever opened will it lead to any or all of these connections? One can only speculate, but it seems there is more than enough evidence available to suggest an investigation is necessary. 

President Obama has also come under fire in recent days from both Democrats and Republicans for his appointment of at least 33 "czars". The Van Jones issue has lead many to ask how Jones and several other very controversial figures could have been appointed to the administration without the president having any knowledge of their radical views. They also question why they were ever appointed in the first place if Obama did know.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-WI joined the anti-czar movement on Wednesday.

"To the extents that this undercuts that role and people are put in the place of Cabinet people and really are the key authorities and you can't question them, that's something worth talking about," Feingold said, referring to the complete lack of Senate scrutiny of the appointees.

The naming of "czars" is widely seen as a method of bypassing the Senate confirmation process for Obama's more controversial appointments.