An Inside Look at Organizing for America Part II: ACORN for America?

February 2, 2010 | Filed Under ACORN, Andy Stern, Anita MonCrief, Barack Obama, Campaign Finance, Computers, Congress, Democracy, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Government, Government, Corruption, Health, House of Representatives, Liberals, Lobbyists, Media Bias, SEIU, Senate, Socialism, Technology | Comments Off

Part II of our inside look at Organizing for America was inspired by the investigative work done by Carol Greenberg Thank you Carol for getting involved and driving this story.

Anita MonCrief

-By Anita MonCrief

From a tiny acorn, a mighty oak can grow. With ACORN’s help, Barack Obama “grew” from an ACORN community organizer and instructor, to an ACORN lawyer and ACORN benefactor as a board member of donor organizations, to an ACORN-backed Illinois state senator, to ACORN’s favorite United States Senator, to ACORN’s candidate for President of the United States in 2008. This article shows how ACORN and its allies helped organize America to make Obama President in this, the computer age.

Barack Obama’s meteoric rise from rookie Senator to President had man marveling at the efficiency and breadth of his campaign. Obama’s ability to fund raise had seasoned experts playing catch up while his voter registration money machine operated in the background. In 2008, the New York Times explored a seemingly innocent tactic the Democrats were utilizing to elect Obama. The article stated several times that the Republicans had honed this technique and Democrats were just “borrowing the play.”

“For years, Republicans had the landscape to themselves. More recently, however, Democrats, along with such allies as trade unions and progressive groups, have poured millions of dollars into building two formidable databanks. One is managed by the Democratic National Committee and can be used by candidates up and down the ballot. The other is Catalist, a for-profit company headed by Harold M. Ickes, a Democratic political operative, that specializes in providing data for scores of liberal groups supporting the Democratic ticket as well as for the Obama campaign itself.”

Progressive organizations, trade unions and a for profit group run by someone who had been implicated in the radical Teamstergate saga of the 1990′s? The crack reporting of The Times glossed over this toxic mix, and the Obama machine kept running.
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An Inside Look at Obama’s Organizing for America Part I

February 1, 2010 | Filed Under ACORN, Anita MonCrief, Barack Obama, Campaign Finance, Congress, Conservatives, Democracy, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Inernet, Liberals, Lobbyists, SEIU, Socialism, Society/Culture, Technology, Vote Fraud | Comments Off

Blogger and activist Carol Greenberg approached me recently with an exclusive look at her work investigating Organizing for America. I was impressed with Carol’s investigative reporting initiative and realized that America needed to see the “Obama Machine” in action. I began working with her on unraveling the truth behind OFA.

I have invited Carol to guest blog at my sites this week for Part I. Carol’s courage in standing up for America and the information provided has allowed me to write the stunning Part II that will follow shortly.

Thank you.
Anita MonCrief

-By Carol Greenberg

Obama’s “permanent campaign” Organizing for America has managed to skirt campaign finance laws while continually providing the unprecedented “opportunity to help the president.” Countless emails fill boxes across America with the sender name President Barack Obama.

Organizing for America has kept a high profile and played a key role in the healthcare debate. Obama’s managed to turn his extraordinary campaign model into a post-election campaign/organizing website where OFA honed their method of using the internet to reach progressives to push through his increasingly unpopular agenda.
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Will ACORN’s Leftist Agenda be Thwarted by Scott Brown?

January 17, 2010 | Filed Under ACORN, Anita MonCrief, Barack Obama, Congress, Conservatives, Constitution, Democracy, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Government, Corruption, Hillary Clinton, Massachusetts, Republicans, SEIU, Socialism, Society/Culture, State Government, States, Tea Party, Unions, Vote Fraud | Comments Off

-By Anita Moncrief

In a move that is oddly fitting for a President who failed to interrupt his Hawaiian vacation to respond to a terrorist attack, Barack Obama is heading to Massachusetts to assist his base of union and community organizers.

“Obama is headed to Massachusetts Sunday to campaign for Democrat Martha Coakley, whose race against Republican Scott Brown has narrowed to a toss-up as voters zero in on the cost of a massive health insurance bill in Congress.”

As the left struggles to maintain “Ted Kennedy’s Seat” the cracks are beginning to show in a radical agenda many believe was crafted by leaders at groups like the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. As Brown supporters eye the state warily, ACORN has largely gone underground in Massachusetts. Beginning in the 1970′s ACORN has operated silently in states across the country conducting “progressive experiments” in liberal states like Massachusetts through the use of organizing around ballot initiatives.

Allamon of The Allamon Cartoon Blog

Lisa Ranghelli, a Massachusetts native, authored a report entitled ACORN Wins: The Monetary Impact of ACORN Campaigns, A Ten Year Retrospective, 1995-2004. Ranghelli’s report listed several ACORN legislative agenda items like predatory lending laws and minimum wage increases “tested” in Massachusetts shortly before a nationwide campaign:

Wade Rathke and the Myth of ACORN

November 24, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anita MonCrief, Barack Obama, Capitalism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Government, Corruption, Socialism | Comments Off

-By Anita MonCrief

Wade Rathke, former chief organizer of the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), spoke at the University of Memphis yesterday and expressed his dismay at the current predicament ACORN finds itself in:

“Rathke stepped down from ACORN in 2008. Since his departure, ACORN’s been accused of voter registration fraud, embezzlement and worker misconduct. Hidden camera video made public earlier this year shows ACORN employees telling a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute how to get around tax laws to make money.

‘It’s very worrisome to me,’ says Rathke, ‘having spent 38 years there. The notion that within one and a half years since I left, the organization could almost evaporate is just stunning and startling to me.”

According to reports, Rathke is pessimistic about the future of ACORN:

“The organization has become the focal point of the Right,” Rathke said during an interview before his speech.

“I don’t know if it can survive another year,” he said….

‘ACORN, Rathke said, serves an important function in a democratic society, in that it ‘provides a vehicle for community residents, particularly lower and middle income, to have a voice in affairs.’

‘You are going to have some people who cut corners, and do things that are irregular. ACORN made mistakes,’ he said.

Rathke said he was glad to be in Canada when the Baltimore video surfaced. “

Unfortunately, Wade Rathke is still peddling the myth that ACORN actually works to help the poor. Grant applications to various foundations describe ACORN as:
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Inside ACORN’S Political Plans: Ensuring a Democrat Majority

November 20, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anita MonCrief, Barack Obama, Campaign Finance, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, House of Representatives, Liberals, News, Vote Fraud | Comments Off

-By Anita MonCrief

According to a report from Ohio today, a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has asked the ACORN-tainted Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, to investigation ACORN’s voter registration work in the state.

“U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan has formally asked Ohio’s secretary of state to look into allegations that ACORN had at least a preliminary plan to back Democrat candidates in key Ohio congressional races in 2008.”

The political plan was described in an October article as “having been scaled back,” and of course, ACORN denied any partisan activity.

“But to some, ACORN’s early 13-page plan for the 2008 election reinforces what critics always assumed: The group’s goal was never nonpartisan. The political plan and other ACORN documents show that the group was interested not just in helping presidential candidate Barack Obama, whom it urged its members to support, according to post-election Federal Election Commission reports. ACORN also was interested in Congress and the Ohio Statehouse.

“There’s no question that ACORN strategized to figure out how its election efforts could maximize the benefit for selected Democratic candidates in the most competitive races,” U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa of California told The Plain Dealer. “

An illuminating fact not mentioned in either article is that ACORN prepared political plans for several key battleground states in 2006 and again during the 2007-08 election cycle. As evidenced by the draft plans developed in the Spring of 2006 by the Strategic Writing and Research Department (SWORD) of ACORN Political Operations, these plans were aimed at electing “progressives” and in some cases broke down the Congressional districts by race for maximum targeting. SWORD, which was staffed by Project Vote staff, including myself, worked with ACORN head organizers in FL, MD, MI, MN, OH, PA, and RI to create local documents for the ACORN field staff to implement and present to funders and/or various partner organizations.
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Obama’s ACORN Connection Can’t Survive Inspection

November 13, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anita MonCrief, Barack Obama, Campaign Finance, Chicago, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Media Bias, News, President, Race, SEIU, Vote Fraud | Comments Off

-By Anita MonCrief

Media Matters continues to try to provide cover for the public flogging ACORN has received as a result of investigative videos which showed ACORN employees giving advice on a number of illegal activities including human trafficking, child prostitution, bank fraud, illegal immigration and tax evasion. Meanwhile, the mainstream media has largely ignored a growing scandal that cannot be contained: ACORN is reportedly closing offices across the country, including the site of the DC undercover videotape.

Also, today another damning ACORN tape was released at Big Government. This time an ACORN member openly confessed to ACORN using non-partisan voter registration to secretly produce Obama votes.

Anyone paying attention knows accusations relating to voter registration fraud, illicit partisan activity and other chicanery often have been made against ACORN, with ACORN either denying all or any ACORN fault. In October of 2008, I testified in Pennsylvania regarding the illegal coordination between Barack Obama’s Campaign and ACORN:

“A former staffer for Project Vote, a sister organization of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, testified at a hearing in Pennsylvania on Wednesday that the Obama campaign provided the group with a campaign donor list in late 2007 for their fundraising efforts. The former D.C. staffer, Anita Moncrief, said she still has a copy of what she called the ‘development plan’ she used to help her identify the maxed-out Obama donors for solicitation. The hearing was part of a lawsuit brought by the GOP seeking information and an injunction against certain ACORN activities in Pennsylvania.

ACORN in New York

November 9, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Campaign Finance, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, Podcasting, Publius' Forum, Society/Culture, State Government, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

In the recent race in New York’s 23rd District we saw a perfect example of the way that ACORN tries to undermine the political process.

NY 23: The Tempest and the Tea Party

November 4, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anita MonCrief, Barack Obama, Congress, Conservatives, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Liberals, Media Bias, News, Patriotism, Republicans, SEIU, Society/Culture, Tea Party | Comments Off

-By Anita MonCrief

A number of liberal Democrats today are celebrating Democrat Bill Owens’ victory over Conservative Doug Hoffman, but these liberals fail to realize that Conservatives are celebrating too. As Barack Obama meddled in local politics across the nation and poured money into obscure districts, Conservatives built upon the resolve that led to the first Tea Party and culminated last night in a lion’s roar directed at the GOP party elite. From RedState emphasis mine:

First, the GOP now must recognize it will either lose without conservatives or will win with conservatives. In 2008, many conservatives sat home instead of voting for John McCain. Now, in NY-23, conservatives rallied and destroyed the Republican candidate the establishment chose.“

Tea Party patriots are tired of Republicans treating them like children at the kids table. Tired of the “there, there” comments as average Americans question their compromises and suspect partnerships. When Republicans cross the aisle and double cross their constituents on Cap and Trade or health care, regular Americans are expected to tend to their families, pay their taxes and take no notice.
However, that simmering resistance reached a boiling point as Republicans used an old “business as usual trick.”
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State Policy Network Conference Update

November 3, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Business, Conservatives, Economy/Finances, Education, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Republicans, Sam Adams Alliance, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 3 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

I have been ensconced in meetings on grassroots organizing, fundraising, tech and all sorts of things here at the SPN 17th annual conference in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina organized by the State Policy Network. I have to thank my host Adam Radman, Programs and Communications Manager of Americans for Tax Reform, for giving me this great opportunity to network with state policy organizations from every state of the Union.

The opening speech was given by Robert Levy, Chairman of the CATO Institute. He spoke on Libertarian-conservative perspectives on federalism, the enumerated powers in the Constitution and the possibilities of tort reform. Annoyingly a fellow in the audience asked of Levy why we should favor federalism over liberty. Levy patiently explained that the talk he gave was narrowly constrained on the topic and wasn’t in any way meant to posit that federalism was more important than freedom and liberty. There’s always one in the crowd, isn’t there?
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Breaking: ACORN expected to Protest Election Results Tomorrow in Clinton County

November 2, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anita MonCrief, Barack Obama, Congress, Conservatives, Elections, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Liberals, Republicans, SEIU, State Government, Vote Fraud | Comments Off

-By Anita MonCrief

Multiple sources on the ground in New York’s 23^rd Congressional district confirm that ACORN is expected to be actively protesting the election results in Clinton County, New York tomorrow. This move comes on the heels of a legal win for the Hoffman camp today as it was ruled that all poll watchers would have to be registered voters of NY 23.

Rob Ryan, spokesman for the Hoffman campaign, states that the legal decision is all about ballot security and that the move by ACORN is not a surprise.

“The Working Family Party is desperate, Today’s poll show that Doug Hoffman is drawing votes from all Demographics”.

While the focus tomorrow will be on securing a win for Hoffman, Ryan says there are still worries about:

How NY23 Revealed the Republicans’ ACORN Problem

November 2, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anita MonCrief, Barack Obama, Congress, Conservatives, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, House of Representatives, Liberals, Republicans, SEIU, Society/Culture, Unions | Comments Off

-By Anita MonCrief

As the nation watches the events in New York’s 23rd Congressional district unfold, an appropriate title for this story would be “How to squander money and alienate your base.” After the Saturday withdrawal of Republican Dede Scozzfava, the GOP is reeling from a massive insurgency by its conservative base. Of course, the story got stranger as Erik Erickson of Redstate reports

“Dede Scozzafava is throwing her support to the Democrat, Bill Owens.

“She and her husband are working with union activists to drive the vote up for the Democrat.

“The Republican Party spent $900,000.00 to help her and this is how she repays them.

“And Pete Sessions, Chairman of the NRCC, and Guy Harrison, Executive Director of the NRCC, still have their jobs and are failing to take responsibility for this disaster, instead blaming conservatives.”

In the GOP there are still some are shaking their heads and wondering what went wrong. The GOP nominated a “moderate” and if she happened to have big labor and ACORN ties, then so be it. For once, the elephant in the room was not the GOP but this blatant, illogical and damaging alliance it had formed with Scozzafava. As the Wall Street journal reports, this relationship would eventually set off a national chain of events:

ACORN’s Tangled Webs

November 1, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anti-Americanism, Business, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, State Government, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

In one of our early postings we discovered how ACORN hides behind hundreds of different incorporated names and sets up dozens and dozens of LLCs and organizations that they hide behind in order to fool people into imagining they aren’t, indeed, doing business with ACORN. This is a story of one of those organizations, one politically active and actively attempting to undermine the trust voters have in the political system.

Some of you may have heard of the election in New York’s 23rd District where a liberal Democrat, a very liberal Republican, and a conservative Republican running on the New York conservative Party ticket all of whom are vying for the open Congressional seat there. Well, one of the organizations hip-deep in this election is a political group called the Working Families Party. Of course, the WFP is more-or-less a front for ACORN in New York and no political party at all.

The WFP is part and parcel to ACORN in New York. The “party” is run out of the ACORN offices at 88 Third Avenue in Brooklyn, its Co-chair is ACORN President Bertha Lewis, and one of its prime representatives is New York’s ACORN leader, Steven Kest. ACORN and the Working Families Party are inextricable. The two are one and the same.
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ACORN’s Defenders Not Remaining Silent

October 31, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, SEIU, Society/Culture, State Government, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

As we at SayNoToACORN.com are fighting to help inform you about what you can do to impress upon our local and federal officials to distance themselves from ACORN, the other side — those that support the actions of ACORN — are also organizing. This fact proves that we cannot just sit idly by and hope that things go our way. We must act to make sure our politicians listen to us and defund this criminal organization. We must speak because our opponents definitely are.

Once again, Byron York reports on this story and he finds a webpage trying to cajole our lawmakers into increasing ACORN’s federal funding instead of eliminating it. York finds a site called defoxamerica.com that serves to both attack Fox News and advocate for increased funding for ACORN.

With Congress getting ready to pass a continuing resolution that might — or might not — extend the ban on federal funds for ACORN, there’s a new campaign urging lawmakers to restore federal funding for the community organizing group. The website DeFOX America, which is devoted both to attacking Fox News and defending ACORN, is asking readers to sign a petition urging Congress “to stand up to [Fox's] McCarthyite tactics by voting against any unconstitutional legislation that singles out specific organizations. This includes the continuing resolution that cuts off Federal support to the national anti-poverty group ACORN.”

This webpage is being funded by an extremist, left-wing Hollywood filmmaker named Robert Greenwald.
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How I Overcame Fear and Rejected the ACORN 8 Alternative

October 30, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anita MonCrief, Barack Obama, Capitalism, Conservatives, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Media Bias, News, President, Race, Socialism, Society/Culture | Comments Off

-By Anita MonCrief

Rosa Parks:

I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.

General George S. Patton, Jr.:

You must be single minded. Drive for the one thing on which you have decided. You will find that you will make some people miserable; those you love and very often yourself. And, if it looks like you are getting there, all kinds of people, including some whom you thought were loyal friends, will suddenly show up doing their damndest, hypocritical best to trip you up, blacken you, and break your spirit.

One almost never hears of paralyzing joy or happiness. The adjective “paralyzing” is usually combined with the word fear. Fear can take on many forms. In most cases, it is the driving force behind the decisions that follow. In 2008, the fear I encountered involved my family, our safety and loyalty to my race and political party. When others are aware of your fears, they can make the most of opportunities to capitalize on them; whether it is a fellow whistleblower warning you away from Fox News, or liberals throwing the word racist in the face of conservatives.

Often, it is the fear of being alone that paralyzes. To avoid being alone, women (and men) can make bad choices in mates or politics. A person will align with a group or organization that adds support or disproves a claim. In July of 2008, I aligned with both The New York Times and former board members of ACORN that had formed a group called the ACORN 8. On October 21, 2008, New York Times reporter Stephanie Strom, with whom I had been working on an ACORN expose, told me that her editors had told her to “stand down,” because the ACORN/Obama story was a “game changer” and it was their policy not to print a “game changer” that close to the election.

My sense of having a reliable system in place to help expose the truth disintegrated. I will always wonder about the timing of the release of the Kingsley report (a report by an ACORN lawyer that showed huge problems within the organization related to the connection between the ACORN entities) to Strom when she was hot on the story of ACORN and Obama campaign corruption and about to be made to “stand down” on it by “higher up.” I began to suspect that the same group who had decided to “wait until after the election to go after Wade Rathke, and whose representative had warned me about going on Fox the weekend before the election may have had an ulterior motive for releasing the report to Strom right before a potentially damaging expose on ACORN/Obama.
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Any Minute Congress Could Re-Fund ACORN

October 29, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Barack Obama, Budget, Chicago, Congress, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, SEIU, Society/Culture, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Earlier I noted that we need your voice to keep the pressure on our representatives to keep government funds out of the hands of the criminal organization ACORN. Today Byron York posted another reminder of this salient fact in his headlined, “Will Congress’ Defunding of ACORN Expire Saturday?”

York concludes that it is unlikely that ACORN funding will be restored on Saturday, but the simple fact of the matter is that it could be. Either this Saturday or during the very next budgeting process, ACORN funding can be easily slipped right back into a budget any time Congress feels like it’s safe to do so.

You see, Congress works by writing continuing budget resolutions — or CRs — several times a year. These CRs delineate Congress’ budget and can be added to or subtracted from at each and every session. Currently the defunding of ACORN is an idea whose time has come. But there can easily come a day when Democrats think no one is watching any longer and slip the ACORN funding right back in to any future CR.
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Durkin and Connelly move to overturn Quinn’s EO 09-15

October 28, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anti-Americanism, Budget, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, Republicans, State Government, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Illinois Review has some great news on the Gov. Quinn/ACORN/SEIU front. As we’ve discussed many times here, Gov. Quinn authored Executive Order 9-15 that tried to unionize in-home healthcare workers that get a stipend from the state to care for their own family members. I’ve been working with Americans for Tax Reform to sponsor an investigation into the millions of state dollars that end up with the unions and ACORN. Our effort can be seen at SayNoToACORN.com.

It looks like several state pols have finally taken notice of Gov. Quinn’s stealth sop to unions and ACORN and are sponsoring a resolution to begin the process to stop it. Illinois Review takes it from here….
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Why do We Need YOUR Voice Against ACORN? Because Gov’t Cannot Be Trusted!

October 28, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Chicago, Congress, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Illinois, Liberals, SEIU, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 4 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Not long ago I posted a piece with news that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) had decided to cut off its association with the Association for Community Activists for Reform Now (ACORN). I also reported that the RIS and several other Federal agencies had stopped their dealings with ACORN, essentially defunding them of federal dollars.

But that was then…

On October 22 Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D, Calif) was sadly successful in getting an amendment passed in the House Financial Services Committee that would allow ACORN to become an official government actor in setting regulations for financial institutions.

You read that right. Rep. Waters thought it would be a great idea to give federal power to an organization that has repeatedly broken multiple state election laws in nearly every state in the union and an organization that has been guilty of covering up the embezzlement nearly five million dollars of its own funds by one of its highest ranking members.
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Project Vote: A twisted branch of the ACORN tree

October 22, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anita MonCrief, Barack Obama, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Media Bias | Comments Off

- By Anita MonCrief

A strange anomaly occurs whenever the phrase “voter registration fraud” is searched. Who’s responsible for that? Perhaps the players? Search the Internet and you will find dozens of stories on the Association of Community Organizations For Reform Now or ACORN on a never ending stream of Google results. However, Project Vote (Voting for America) is often only listed as an affiliate. Articles posted by the mainstream media tend to downplay Project Vote’s role or is it something else?

In the fall of 2005 I answered an ad posted on Idealist.org similar to the one provided by the Capital Research Center below. It was the beginning of my journey with ACORN. Throughout the interview process I never heard the words Project Vote, only ACORN. The goal was to make sure that I was ideologically aligned with the principles -and I use that term loosely – of ACORN.

When I came to Washington, D.C. to start working for ACORN, it quickly became evident to me that Project Vote did not have a lot of employees and was a part of ACORN. Often we employees wore many hats and worked weekends and late nights with the sense that we were doing it for the “movement.”

New Stop ACORN TV Ad

October 22, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Budget, Campaign Finance, Chicago, Cook County, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, Society/Culture, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

Illinois state government is so mixed up with AORN and the SEIU but the people are left in the dark about the truth. One group wants to launch an investigation into just how much state money these corrupt politicians are giving to ACORN and the SEIU.

SayNoToACRON.com has launched a new TV ad to inform Illinoisans on the threat to their government and taxes.

Anita MonCrief – A Modern David Takes on The Obama/ACORN Goliath

October 22, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Ann "Babe" Huggett, Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Communism, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Government, Corruption, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, President, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, The Law | Comments Off

-By Ann “Babe” Huggett

On Tuesday, October 20, 2009, in a teleconference for bloggers hosted by Andrew Breitbart of Breitbart TV and BigGovernment.com and ACORN whistle-blower, Anita MonCrief, the launch of Ms MonCrief’s defense fund website, Fight for Anita, (http://fightforanita.com/) was announced.

A brief description of Anita’s website, which was included in the invitation, read, “ACORN is doing everything it can to intimidate Anita and others like her from telling the public what they know about ACORN. In June 2009, Project Vote and ACORN filed a lawsuit against Anita to try to get her to stop talking. The defense fund, Fight for Anita was created to help Anita with her very expensive legal fees during this crucial battle for Anita’s First Amendment rights so that she may continue to tell her brave story.”

The Fight for Anita site is as direct and as straightforward as the lady is herself. Anita never wanted the publicity, legal persecution or notoriety of whistle blowing on ACORN, Project Vote and ultimately President Obama himself. However, her innate honesty, patriotism and the very same idealism that led her to work for ACORN in the first place, also gave her the strength and courage to reject and expose the corruption, voter fraud and thuggery she saw around her.
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Illinois Rep. Biggert Introduces Defund ACORN Bill

October 20, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anti-Americanism, Budget, Business, Chicago, Congress, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Free Trade, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Illinois, Liberals, SEIU, Society/Culture, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

U.S. Representative Judy Biggert (R, Hinsdale, IL) introduced legislation last week intended to prevent misuse of federal housing counseling funds.

“It’s abundantly clear that ACORN and its affiliates cannot be trusted as a federally certified entity,” said Biggert, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee. “Given the group’s clear links to illegal and inappropriate activities, how can we knowingly give them federal certification to divert precious resources from legitimate housing counselors working overtime to help struggling homeowners?”

For years federal funds have flowed into ACORN’s coffers for services given to low-income home buyers across the country. These services are intended to counsel low-income buyers on how to go about the mortgage process, to inform them of subsides and government services, and to assist the purchase.
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Union Plans Voted Down by Home Healthcare Workers

October 20, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anti-Americanism, Business, Chicago, Communism, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Free Trade, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Health, Jobs, Liberals, Society/Culture, State Government, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

If CBS News has it right, the majority of in-home healthcare workers in Illinois voted not to join a union despite the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Governor Quinn’s best efforts to force the issue.

Earlier in the year, Governor Quinn signed Executive Order 09-15 that gave away the private information of every in-home healthcare worker in the state to several unions so that they might begin a campaign to cajole these workers into joining a union by calling them on the phone and visiting them at their homes.

In-home healthcare workers receive a stipend from the state in order to help them care for developmentally disabled or medically at risk family members.
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ACORN Destroying Republican Voter Registration Forms

October 19, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anti-Americanism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Not long ago, Pam Geller told the story of an ACORN office in Florida that had destroyed all the Republican voter registration forms it had gotten during a 2008 voter registration drive.

Geller had a first-hand account of this crime from one Fathiyyah Muhammad, an Obama voter that is a registered Republican. She is also an African-American.

“This is my first experience” with ACORN, Muhammad said. “This was before Obama got the nomination, long before then….I heard about this group that was paying $3.00 per person, to go out and to get people to sign up to vote. So I went over, I thought that well this is a good way to make some money because I know everybody, you know. I went over there and this guy signed me up and everything, and gave me my little pad, all this stuff.”

Muhammad dutifully went out and registered a bunch of Republican voters in Jacksonville and returned to the ACORN office to turn in her results. However, the ACORN representatives were incensed to find out that her registrations were for Republicans and not Democrats.
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Even SEIU Says ACORN is Toxic

October 17, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anti-Americanism, Budget, Business, Chicago, Cook County, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, SEIU, Society/Culture, State Government, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

In an amusing case of the pot calling the kettle, Anna Burger, the Secretary-Treasurer of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), told Representative Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) that the SEIU had dumped ACORN during a Sept. 30 hearing conducted by the House Financial Services Committee. Apparently Mrs. Burger felt that ACORN was too toxic for the SEIU to associate with.

Certainly it is quite amazing that the SEIU has taken the step to dump ACORN as a vendor. Groups such as SEIU rarely reassess associations preferring to stubbornly stick to their guns in most cases.

During the hearing, Rep. McHenry mentioned to Mrs. Burger that the U.S. Census Bureau, the IRS, and even Bank of America had cut ties with ACORN because of the community organizer’s declining credibility and apparent criminal activities. Burger replied, “SEIU has also cut all ties to ACORN.”
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How This Reluctant Whistleblower Decided to Tell All

October 16, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Barack Obama, Government, Corruption, President, Unions | Comments Off

-By Anita MonCrief

In May of 2008 I was working at a respected non-profit and learning the ropes of the corporate nonprofit world. At ACORN you never knew what you would find. I once walked into a lobby and saw a man on his knees talking to DC local ACORN about the “man” and something about Bush. My new position was definitely not grassroots. Everything was efficient, clean and well run. I was making a nice salary and loved the mission of the nonprofit. I had been there a few months and the only problem was that I felt that I was in the wrong place. As primaries raged on I felt a disquieting sense of something passing me by. At the time I was trying to reconcile myself with my choices in life but a part of me was still living in fear of who I had been and who I really was.

That May I decided to go back to my grassroots background and experience this monumental change that everyone predicted was on the horizon. I started out as a Hillary Clinton supporter as I have mentioned in radio interviews. I wanted to really delve into the feeling that seemed to permeate through the liberal community as the 2008 presidential election approached. Everyone sensed that we were on the cusp of something life changing. It became harder and harder for me to sit by, so I joined another grassroots, progressive organization with labor roots. I was sitting at my desk one July day I when got the email alert about the ACORN embezzlement scandal. I followed a myriad of nonprofit dailies and was surprised but not shocked to see the story. ACORN had tons of stories like these floating around, it was part of ACORN lore.

I often wonder if I would have contacted New York Times reporter Stephanie Strom if I had stayed at my previous post with the international nonprofit, but somehow I think that making the choice to leave made this one easier. I was a union member with great benefits, a salary in the mid-forties and what I felt was a front row seat to change. I debated with myself about contacting the reporter who wrote the story. Part of me wanted to let sleeping dogs lie and not talk about what I knew about ACORN. I remembered doing the research on voter fraud allegations from 2004 and knew what happened to ACORN employees who decided to speak out, and I felt that I would definitely be retaliated against and labeled disgruntled. I weighed all of these options and decided that if I stayed quiet that it would be for selfish reasons, and that is not why I came to DC.

The Big Score: Springfield’s Subsidies to ACORN

October 15, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Chicago, Communism, Cook County, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, Republicans, SEIU, Society/Culture, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

For a little further information on the cozy relationship between the Illinois State government in Springfield and the troubled Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the sort of corrupt bargain to which we are attempting to bring sunlight, we’ve done a little research into some of the funding distributed from our tax dollars to ACORN. In this case, we have some documents on funds given to ACORN for the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s Predatory Lending Database Program (PLD) and related programs.

It isn’t just the taxpayer’s money given to ACORN that is at issue, to be sure. Not only do we see our tax dollars going to this organization that has so often been caught up in instances of criminal voter fraud across the country as well as a $5 million embezzlement controversy, but our state government has allowed this group to help it create government programs and policies, as well.

Why would the state turn to this often times criminal organization to help it create the PLD program? For the answer to that we turn to the 2008 Annual Comprehensive Housing Plan progress report.

Brave Mom Fights Forced Unionization and Gov. Quinn

October 15, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anti-Americanism, Business, Capitalism, Chicago, Communism, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Free Speech, Free Trade, Government, Corruption, Health, Illinois, Journalism, Liberals, Socialism, State Government, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

We’ve been reporting to you of the outrageous under-the-radar actions of Governor Pat Quinn and his Executive Order 9-15. This EO both handed the private information of Illinois citizens to unions and set up a payoff for his union supporters by automatically unionizing hundreds of Illinois home healthcare workers whether they want to be unionized or not.

Well, one mother is fighting back. Pam Harris serves as the primary care specialist for her developmentally disabled son and in so doing receives some helpful funds from the state for that purpose. When she found out that Quinn’s EO gave her personal information to several unions she was concerned. And when she later found out that she would have to pay dues to a union even if she didn’t want to join one she became incensed.

In a report on our local Fox affiliate, Harris said, “When my doorbell rings at eleven thirty Sunday morning and there’s two people in purple shirts, one from California, one from Virginia– nice enough young people– nice enough, but that’s an invasion of my privacy.”

Harris is sure that no union will benefit her.
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Smosska’s ACORN Smoke Screen

October 11, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anti-Americanism, Business, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, President, Society/Culture, State Government, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

This is an update on a story about a company in South Carolina named Smosska that I covered back in July. At this point, it seems beyond question that Smosska is a sham organization that was set up by ACORN in order to hide “community activism” behind a false front in South Carolina.

Back in July I reported on a corporation that swept into Florence, South Carolina promising all sorts of new jobs with wonderful new benefits. Naturally none of these jobs have materialized. Looking into this Smosska, Corp. proves that the company is a sham group formed to serve the needs of the criminal ACORN organization.

Well, for an update, it looks like this sham company is getting served with an eviction notice.
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How ACORN Hides Behind Fake Names

October 9, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, Society/Culture, State Government, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | 5 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Many states have ways to look up the businesses, organizations and people with whom the state does business. Illinois has such a service on the Secretary of State’s website.

In Illinois there is a way to search the folks the state does business with on a page titled Corporate/LLC Search / Certificate of Good Standing. There you can input the name of a corporation or LLC and find out the address of its offices, its registered manager’s name, etc.

Sadly, this feature is not easy to use. The problem is you have to know the actual name of the corporation you are looking for. Of course, if you don’t really know what you are looking for you just cannot find anything useful.

The problem with the Illinois search system is that groups like ACORN register hundreds of different shell corporations to hide behind. They register them to their workers and their directors and then they offer them to government as a vendor or organization for the state’s use. Naturally, state funds flow like water into ACORN’s coffers as a result.
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Illinois Families Forced Into Unions Courtesy of Gov. Quinn

October 7, 2009 | Filed Under ACORN, Budget, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, President, SEIU, Socialism, State Government, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Governor Pat Quinn signed Executive Order number 09-15 earlier in the year. This order gave the state government the OK to hand over the private information — the addresses, names, and telephone numbers — of hundreds of families that have developmentally disabled children and other family members with chronic medical problems in their homes. Many of these people are considered home-based healthcare workers by the state and they receive state aid to help them take care of their disabled family members.

Unions like the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) are salivating to take some of this money out of the pockets of these needy Illinois citizens that only want a little help to take care of family members with major and costly medical problems.

Now, with the signing of EO 09-15, Governor Pat Quinn has given these unions the “in” they need to accost these citizens in their homes or on the phone in order to cajole them into joining their unions. Once these unions get done bothering Illinois citizens in their homes, thanks to being given private addresses by Quinn, they will then begin to reap the reward of millions of dollars in forced dues remittances.

Quinn has also agreed that these unions will get a portion of these citizen’s state aid whether they join a union or not.
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