House Democrats Cave To ACORN Bashing; New York Members Cave Too

A tough vote (0.00 / 0)

I'm going to start with the reason the right wing is targeting ACORN -- they register a lot of voters, and just about every voter they register votes Democratic.

The first phony flap was about registration forms submitted by ACORN in several states that were clearly not legitimate.  The whole truth is more complex, and actually shows just how good ACORN is.  ACORN pays people to register new voters, and some of those people attempt to bolster their numbers by creating phony registrations.  Under the law, any organization that does a voter registration drive is required to submit every form they get.  ACORN took the time to go through the forms first, however, and alert election officials to any form they thought wasn't legitimate.

In other words, ACORN helped weed out the bad forms, even though they don't have to.  For this, the right wing tried to villify them.

Next we have the videos of bad behavior on the part of some ACORN employees.  There are two items not being widely reported in the mainstream media.  First, according to ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis, the videos that are being released are only a tiny percentage of the total; the overwhelming majority of the time some right winger with a hidden camera tried to entrap an ACORN employee, he or she was told to take a hike.  Second, some of those amateur videographers are breaking the law by making those videos, and they aren't being investigated.

In other words, ACORN employees are overwhelmingly honest and decent, while the right wing nuts are, in at least as many cases, criminals.  For this, ACORN is losing money.

Now we come to the vote.  Despite all the facts showing that while ACORN does have problems, as any large organization will, they are doing great work, the mainstream media has once again bowed down to the insanity of the right wing nuts.  As a result, many members of Congress feel they must cut off funding for ACORN because the rest of the story isn't being reported.  Some of them may not even know all the facts, and may be voting the way they do simply because they are ill-informed.

The answer is to get the facts out, and demand that local newspapers and television and radio stations report the truth.  Then send a copy of that demand to the local House member, and ask for an explanation of their vote.

My bet is that there will be quite a bit of money going to ACORN through back channels, and that it will make up for most (if not all) of the funding they will lose publicly.  Meanwhile, I'm a bit slower to excoriate House members like Massa and Maloney on this vote; I'm willing to give them a chance to explain their vote, and possibly turn them around on this issue.

One final thought -- it's interesting that this vote, rushed as it was, came so quickly on the heels of President Carter's remarks.

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by: Dan Jacoby @ Thu Sep 17, 2009 at 21:06:37 PM UTC

Wow (0.00 / 1)

Is it possible you think ACORN is a credible organization? Unbelievable.

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by: libertymama @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 03:30:50 AM UTC

Yes (0.00 / 0)

Some members apparently did things they shouldn't have, but if you look at, say, the 30,000+ members of the NYPD you'll find some who don't behave properly either.  That's not an indictment of the NYPD, or of ACORN; it's just a fact that in any large group there will be some baddies.

The fact is that the overwhelming majority of ACORN workers are committed to empowering people who are left out of the process.  They do this primarily by teaching people to how organize in their communities and by registering people to vote.  What is the problem with that?  Please be specific.

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by: Dan Jacoby @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 16:58:27 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Allow me to remind everyone: the ACORN employee was talking trash. (0.00 / 0)

She has said very clearly that she did not find the actors believable at all, and decided to play with them. A claim which is backed up by the fact that she claimed to have murdered her abusive ex-husband in cold blood, when in fact he's very much alive and living in Oregon.  

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by: Adama D. Brown @ Sat Sep 19, 2009 at 04:12:05 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

ACORN A DISGRACE (0.00 / 0)

Time Magazine, not exactly a bastion of conservative thinking:
http://www.time.com/time/polit...

That was over a year ago and before a sleuth a more lawsuits and the present undercover videos.  

What is perhaps the most shocking part of the videos is the blatantly moral ambivalence the ACORN staff showed in regard to the law, underage prostitution, tax evasion, etc. And in each office there was more than one staff member listening and remaining unphased by the shocking conversation. That would lead a logical, thinking person to conclude that: a). Either ACORN is not properly training their staff or is condoning such behavior, and 2) This was not the first time the staff had dealt with such situations.

You are all blinded by ideology and apologists. THis will not serve to better our country.

Regardless of how you feel about ACORN, do you think it is Constitutional for a partisan organization who endorses candidates to receive taxpayer funds??

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by: libertymama @ Mon Sep 21, 2009 at 03:14:17 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

50,000 ACORNS (4.00 / 1)

It would take 50,000 ACORNs to come close to the equivalent of what the government spent on AIG.  

For AIG we forked over $200 billion to deal with a problem which if it was not criminal conduct, everyone agrees it should be deemed criminal.

ACORN got $3.5 million and did a lot of good work.  Of course, since the good work benefited largely the Black and Hispanic communities, well, it's ok to ignore those facts and the insane disparity.

Hey Congresscritters, ever heard of the Due Process Clause?  How about some due process?  Watching Faux Noise is not due process.  

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by: jmcbride @ Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 14:34:06 PM UTC

Due recognition should be given (0.00 / 0)

To the Progressive Congress folks that did not support this measure. Standing their ground and not caving to the right wingers was the admirable thing to do. Thanks Crowley, Engel, Hinchey, Meeks, Nadler, Rangel, Serrano, Slaughter, Towns, Velazquez.

Did the others vote according to their constituency or was their vote cast based on re-election?

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by: Flame @ Sat Sep 19, 2009 at 21:08:46 PM UTC