While Parent ACORN Dies, New "Seeds of Change": Different Name Same Rotten ACORN

While Bertha Lewis admits that the original ACORN tree has been effectively chopped down, there seems to be some of their subsidiaries that aren't so willing to go off into the sunset:

ACORN, the community organizing group that collapsed earlier this year under the weight of a furious conservative assault, aims to reconstitute itself under a new name after the midterm elections, according to a new book on the group.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, as it is formally known, could not survive the embarrassing videos produced in 2009 by guerrilla journalist James O'Keefe that appeared to show ACORN workers advising a would-be pimp, and it effectively dissolved into its local chapters.

But strong local ACORN chapters swiftly regrouped under new names, such as the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and New York Communities for Change. Those groups "will retain ACORN's commitment to building national power and are beginning discussions" about re-launching a national organization some time after November, John Atlas writes in his sympathetic new history of ACORN, "Seeds of Change."

Don't be fooled. ACORN isn't dead, yet.

The True Story Behind ACORN's Pimp Daddy O'Keefe's Arrest

Since the story broke of James O'Keefe's arrest, I have been thinking of what I thought of it, and I didn't want to jump to any conclusions as the mainstream media did. So, I waited until I received all of the facts before I posted anything. Now, we know what went on in New Orleans last tuesday and why he did what he did.

Briefly, here is what happened:

An official close to the investigation said one of the four was arrested with a listening device in a car blocks from the senator's offices. He spoke on condition of anonymity because that information was not included in official arresting documents.

According to the FBI affidavit, Flanagan and Basel entered the federal building at 500 Poydras Street on Monday about 11 a.m., dressed as telephone company employees, wearing jeans, fluorescent green vests, tool belts and hard hats. When they arrived at Landrieu's 10th-floor office, O'Keefe was already in the office and had told a staffer he was waiting for someone to arrive.

When Flanagan and Basel entered the office, they told the staffer they were there to fix phone problems. At that time, the staffer, referred to only as Witness 1 in the affidavit, observed O'Keefe positioning his cell phone in his hand to videotape the operation. O'Keefe later admitted to agents that he recorded the event.

After being asked, the staffer gave Basel access to the main phone at the reception desk. The staffer told investigators that Basel manipulated the handset. He also tried to call the main office phone using his cell phone, and said the main line wasn't working. Flanagan did the same.

They then told the staffer they needed to perform repair work on the main phone system and asked where the telephone closet was located. The staffer showed the men to the main General Services Administration office on the 10th floor, and Flanagan and Basel went in. There, a GSA employee asked for the men's credentials. They said they left them in their vehicle.

The U.S. Marshal's Service apprehended all four men shortly thereafter.

This left everyone wondering just what the hell was O'Keefe, the man who went into ACORN offices around the country posing as a pimp in order to secretly videotape employees attempting to help him smuggle underage prostitutes into the US and get away with it, and cohorts doing. Of course, liberals and most of the mainstream media jumped to the conclusion that he was trying to tape Senator Mary Landrieu's own phone conversations. However, as the story unfolded and the FBI affidavit was released, it turned out that the intent wasn't so nefarious but just as illegal:

A law enforcement official says the four men arrested for attempting to tamper with the phones in the New Orleans office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) were not trying to intercept or wiretap the calls.

Instead, the official says, the men, led by conservative videomaker James O'Keefe, wanted to see how her local office staff would respond if the phones were inoperative. They were apparently motivated, the official says, by criticism that when Sen. Landrieu became a big player in the health care debate, people in Louisiana were having a hard time getting through on the phones to register their views. 

That is, the official says, what led the four men to pull this stunt -- to see how the local staffers would react if the phones went out. Would the staff just laugh it off, or would they express great concern that local folks couldn't get through?

Yesterday, O'Keefe released a statement discussing what happened in Landrieu's New Orleans office. Here is what he was doing in his own words:

I learned from a number of sources that many of Senator Landrieu’s constituents were having trouble getting through to her office to tell her that they didn’t want her taking millions of federal dollars in exchange for her vote on the healthcare bill.  When asked about this, Senator Landrieu’s explanation was that, “Our lines have been jammed for weeks.”  I decided to investigate why a representative of the people would be out of touch with her constituents for “weeks” because her phones were broken.  In investigating this matter, we decided to visit Senator Landrieu’s district office – the people’s office – to ask the staff if their phones were working.

He admitted that he probably should have taken a different approach in investigating Landrieu, but he wasn't

He went on to lambaste the media for jumping to conclusions and blowing the story up in order to demonize him:

It has been amazing to witness the journalistic malpractice committed by many of the organizations covering this story.  MSNBC falsely claimed that I violated a non-existent “gag order.”  The Associated Press incorrectly reported that I “broke in” to an office which is open to the public.  The Washington Post has now had to print corrections in two stories on me.  And these are just a few examples of inaccurate and false reporting.  The public will judge whether reporters who can’t get their facts straight have the credibility to question my integrity as a journalist.

Obviously, this was way out of line and a serious felony. He should be greatly chastised for it. On the other hand, since this story broke, liberals are already trying to use this to get ACORN out of the doghouse by implying that O'Keefe must have used similar tactics to twist what really happened in the various ACORN offices, but it shouldn't be used, as it most definitely has been, to minimize his accomplishments and absolve ACORN more all of its illegal activities.

Rotten ACORN Sues Uncle Sam For Their Right to Your Hard-Earned Tax Dollars

Since James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles of Big Government caught ACORN workers committing felonies, there has been a big backlash against the liberal organization. It was so bad that a heavily Democratic federal government had to pull their support of the crooked organization. After the House and the Senate voted convincingly to cut off federal funding to ACORN, Bertha Lewis and company have been fuming. Now, they are planning on getting revenge on the US government by suing the US government to get their hands back on our money:

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is hitting back at the federal government with a lawsuit arguing that Congress violated the Constitution when it passed legislation banning federal funding for the group.

What is the basis of their lawsuit? What argument could their lawyers have possibly come up with to even think about using in court?

The lawsuit also says Congress violated the Fifth Amendment right to due process, and the First Amendment right to freedom of association by targeting organizations affiliated and allied with ACORN. It wants the court to issue an injunction to keep the government from re-appropriating funds originally for the group and its affiliates.

"It's not the job of Congress to be the judge, jury, and executioner," said Jules Lobel, cooperating attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights. "We have due process in this country."

The due process argument is asinine. Could they really be implying that they have a constitutional right to our tax money? The right to due process pertains to criminal trials not Congressional debates. Congress has the right to cut funding from any organization at any time for any reason. Congress doesn't nor should it hold "trials" to determine if an organization is able to continue to receive funds or whether it should be pulled for wrongdoing. This would lead to every organization that receives money to expect a full trial, if Congress ever decides to pull funding. This would be pandamonium.

Now, let's get to the other stupid argument. The first admendment's "right to assembly" is not being violated. Congress is not forcing them to disband or close shop. They still have their right to peaceful assembly. ACORN can still dig up the dead and get them to vote or go to daycare to sign up the toddlers.

Palate Cleanser: ACORN Approval Plummets, Majority Believes Investigations Are Results of Illegal Activity

Here's a poll that came out earlier today that assess people's mindsets on ACORN and everything that has transpired over the past week:

ACORN Favorable            15% Unfavorable                      67%
No opinion                          19%  

By 3-1 margin (51% to 17%), voters favor cutting off all federal funds  By 6-1 margin (64% to 10%) voters agree with census bureau decision to cut ties  

Only 20% believe the investigations of ACORN are politically motivated…57% say they’re the result of illegal activity

This should convince even the most stubborn supporters of the criminal enterprise that is the rotten ACORN. It is time to put an end to the their crooked organization.

GOP Attorneys Answer Rep. Nadler's (D-NY) Call For “Credible Evidence” About Rotten ACORN's Fraud Charges

Video: We’ve got your “credible” right here, Rep. Nadler
posted at 4:15 pm on March 27, 2009
by Ed Morrissey

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) shocked people when he wondered aloud during testimony in Congress about ACORN’s serial violations of election-fraud law when Congress would demand an investigation.  Jerold Nadler (D-NY) attempted to get his fellow Democrat back in line by assuring him that any “credible” allegation would prompt Nadler himself to demand an investigation.  A group of GOP attorneys want to take Nadler up on that challenge.

There is plenty of “credible evidence” to launch an investigation into the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN), the Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) will argue in a video to be released Friday afternoon. House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) shut down a request by Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) to launch an investigation into ACORN, with Nadler citing not enough “credible evidence” to proceed.

The RNLA video targets that claim by marshaling a bevy of news reports from throughout the country during the 2008 presidential election, in which ACORN activists were alleged to have facilitated voter fraud in their get-out-the-vote efforts.

We covered most of those stories here at Hot Air.  If we missed any, it was only because so many of them popped up during the campaign.  And it didn’t just happen in our imagination, either; the Attorney General of Indiana found “multiple criminal violations” committed by ACORN just in his state alone.

Isn’t that credible enough for Nadler?  Or is he too much in ACORN’s grip that nothing short of a signed and videotaped confession by all of ACORN’s leadership will pique his curiosity about election fraud?  Yes, that’s a rhetorical question.



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http://hotair.com/archives/2009/03/27/video-weve-got-your-credible-right-here-rep-nadler/
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My Thoughts

What more could Jerold Nadler want? ACORN is a huge scourge of our country's integrity.

Rotten ACORN Loyalist Becomes Obama's First Federal Judicial Appointment

ACORN's Federal Judge
By Matthew Vadum on 3.17.09 @ 5:02PM

Giving the term judicial activism new meaning, President Obama has nominated an ACORN loyalist to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the Chicago Tribune reports.

David F. Hamilton "has a long and impressive record of service and a history of handing down fair and judicious decisions. He will be a thoughtful and distinguished addition to the 7th circuit and I am extremely pleased to put him forward to serve the people of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin," the president said in a press release that conspicuously ignores the judicial nominee's actual history.

The Judicial Confirmation Network notes that Hamilton previously worked as a fundraiser for ACORN, the radical direct-action group that not only resurrects the dead and gets them to the polls every election but also shakes down banks and pressures them to make home loans to people who can't afford to pay them back.

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Indiana) is already smitten with Hamilton. "I enthusiastically support the Senate confirmation of David Hamilton for U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Hamilton has served the Southern District of Indiana with distinction as U.S. District Court Judge," Lugar said.

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http://spectator.org/blog/2009/03/17/acorns-federal-judge
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My Thoughts

Just another part of the payback for ACORN helping to elect Obama. This also shows the type of liberal activist judges that we can expect from The One.

Plus, what in the world is about any Republican doing being "smitten" with any liberal activist judge especially ones involved with the Rotten ACORN?

About Face: Former ACORN Apologist Rep. Conyers Wants Rotten ACORN's Fraud Charges Examined

Conyers suggests probe of ACORN Calls fraud charges 'serious'
S.A. Miller
Friday, March 20, 2009

In an startling partisan shift, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. on Thursday proposed holding hearings on claims the liberal activist group ACORN engaged in a pattern of crimes ranging from voter fraud to a mob-style “protection” racket.

Mr. Conyers, Michigan Democrat and fierce partisan, suggested a congressional probe after scathing testimony about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) during a hearing on various voting issues related to the 2008 presidential election.

Mr. Conyers called the accusations “a pretty serious matter.”

“I think that it would be something that would be worth our time,” he said during Thursday's hearing. “We've never had one person representing ACORN before the committee. ... I think in all fairness we ought to really examine it.”

The testimony by Pittsburgh lawyer Heather Heidelbaugh accused the nonprofit group of violating tax, campaign-finance and other laws by, among other things, sharing with the Barack Obama campaign a list of the Democrat's maxed-out campaign donors so ACORN could use it to solicit them for a get-out-the-vote drive.

She also testified that the Democrat-allied group provided liberal causes with protest-for-hire services and coerced donations from targets of demonstrations through a shakedown it called the “muscle for the money” program.

Ms. Heidelbaugh, a member of the executive committee of the Republican National Lawyers Association, spearheaded an unsuccessful lawsuit last year seeking a court injunction in Pennsylvania against ACORN's voter-registration drive for the 2008 presidential campaign. She appeared as a witness at the request of Republican committee members.

Mr. Conyers, who is known for his drive to continue investigating the Bush administration, previously defended ACORN. In October, he condemned an FBI voter fraud investigation targeting the group. He questioned whether it was politically motivated to hamper a voter-registration drive targeting groups likely to support Mr. Obama's candidacy.

But Mr. Conyers' shift was met by resistance from fellow Democrats on the committee, and it was unclear whether a hearing would be scheduled.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, New York Democrat and chairman of the Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, civil rights and civil liberties that hosted Thursday's hearing, suggested there was not enough “credible evidence” to warrant a hearing focused exclusively on ACORN.

Rep. Melvin Watt said he would concede that ACORN and some of its members engaged in voter fraud. But he said voter fraud was already covered by existing law and Congress has not further role in the matter.

“I'm not coming to a hearing to have a trial on ACORN. That's not my job,” the North Carolina Democrat said.

Republican committee member Rep. Steve King of Iowa said getting the Democrat-led Congress to take action against ACORN “is going to be difficult but I am encouraged by John Conyers' request.”

The accusations against the group, which were based entirely on sworn court testimony late last year by ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.

No ACORN officials testified at Thursday's hearing, but they have said none of the charges are true and dismiss Ms. MonCrief as a disgruntled, low-level employee who was fired for stealing money from the organization.

Kevin Whelan, ACORN deputy political director, did not return a call for comment Thursday.

Ms. MonCrief worked for years as a clerk at the D.C. office of ACORN-affiliated Project Vote before being fired for charging about $2,000 in personal expenses on an ACORN credit card.

She said the hearing Thursday - she attended but did not testify - was an extremely partisan exercise except for Mr. Conyers' support for further hearings.

“I thought that was really wonderful because he took a stand that I really didn't think was going to come from that side,” Ms. MonCrief, a registered Democrat, said after the hearing.

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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/20/conyers-suggests-probe-of-acorn/

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My Thoughts

ACORN's legal troubles continue to mount. It's getting harder and harder to defend them. If the Democrats start turning on ACORN, they won't have anyone coming to their rescue other than extreme left nutjobs like Soros.

Rotten ACORN, MoveOn Starts Cannabalizing Own Party's Less Liberal

ACORN, MoveOn target House Dems
By ALEX ISENSTADT | 3/11/09 6:51 PM EDT 

Republicans hammered Barack Obama over his connection to ACORN during last year’s election, but now ACORN is taking a swing at some Democrats — with the help of liberal activists at MoveOn.org.

The role reversal arises out of the groups’ anger at moderate House Democrats who opposed a housing bill that has more generous bankruptcy rules for people facing foreclosure.

Next week this coalition will begin airing TV ads criticizing House Democrats who voted against the measure, which would for the first time give judges the authority to restructure home mortgages — a procedure known as a cramdown.

The House last week voted 234-191 to pass the housing bill with the bankruptcy provision, but 24 Democrats, mostly moderates, voted against it. ACORN, a coalition of housing activists, has made this measure a top priority in the new Congress.

It is the first time ACORN and MoveOn.org have joined forces to target a lawmaker from either party. The organizations say that they are actively seeking out residents in the districts of Reps. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.), Baron Hill (D-Ind.), Marion Berry (D-Ark.), and Tim Holden (D-Pa.) who have lost their homes, so they can appear in TV ads asking their congressmen why they voted against the bill.

“We think it is significant that progressives are joining forces to hold congressional moderates accountable for their votes affecting working families,” ACORN Executive Director Steve Kest told POLITICO. “We think that it signals how seriously we take these issues in the face of the economic meltdown.”

The liberal coalition doesn’t seem to mind taking on Democrats, though it’s unclear if the ad campaign would extend to backing more liberal Democrats in primaries against moderates like Ellsworth and Hill next year. 

"We were appalled to see some congressional Democrats side with Wall Street while families in their districts are struggling to stay in their homes," said Robert Greenwald, president of Brave New Foundation, an organization spearheading the effort. "That is just unconscionable."

Color of Change, an African-American organization, is helping to finance the ad buy. The groups did not specify how much will be spent on the effort.


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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19913.html

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My Thoughts

I guess the far left loons have to go after even the moderate Democrats to pull them even further to the left. They're going to keep pulling until we turn into Sweden.

Another Rotten ACORN Falls Off Tree

Milwaukee Woman Charged With Election Fraud
POSTED: 5:18 pm CDT March 10, 2009

MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee woman has been charged with election fraud after prosecutors said she filled out false voter registration forms.

According to the criminal complaint, Latoya Lewis was working for the group Acorn last year registering new voters for the election.

Lewis admitted to investigators she filled out the forms and signed them in order to meet her daily quota of 20.

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http://www.wisn.com/news/18901475/detail.html
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My Thoughts

Another rotten ACORN falls from the ObamAcorn tree.

Rotten ACORN, LaRaza Gets Extra Helping of Pork From "Porkulus" Bill, New Spending Bill

ACORN, LaRaza get double-dips of pork barrel in stimulus, omnibus spending bills
By Barbara Hollingsworth
Examiner Columnist | 2/25/09 5:42 PM

So President Barack Obama wants to cut the federal deficit in half by 2013? He can start by downsizing the amount of pork fat flowing to dozens of special interest groups that supported his candidacy.

About a hundred of these groups, including the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the National Education Association (NEA) and the National Council of La Raza, have already received billions of tax dollars under Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan. Yet they now stand to rake in even more federal money under the $410 billion omnibus spending bill now wending its way through Congress.

“The Democrats are asking taxpayers to pay for over 100 accounts in the omnibus bill that are also in the stimulus bill,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday.

“It strikes us that we're on a spending spree of gargantuan proportions here. A good time to stop it would be getting this omnibus appropriation bill down to a size that’s consistent with the current budget,” McConnell said.

How can congressional Democrats possibly justify giving the same organizations that already got a heaping helping of pork in the stimulus bill another scoop in the omnibus bill while taxpayers are suffering?

Despite Obama’s campaign promise to reduce earmarks, which are essentially handouts to the favored few, Taxpayers for Common Sense found 8,570 earmarks worth $7.7 billion in the current omnibus bill.

Adding those to the $6.6 billion in earmarks passed last fall, TSC calculates there are a total of $14.3 billion in for FY09 – a mere $500 million less than the year before. Democrats have clearly not eliminated the “culture of corruption” rampant on Capitol Hill, just changed the names of the beneficiaries.

Speaking of beneficiaries, the omnibus bill contains a $473,000 earmark for La Raza, which has called for Mexico to annex the southwestern states. Maybe it’s time to take them up on the offer and let the Mexican government bail out California for a change.

The omnibus bill also contains more funding for ACORN, which has been implicated in voter fraud in several states. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-AZ, also discovered that more than $7 million in earmarks are targeted for clients of the former PMA – currently under investigation by the FBI for campaign fraud.

So here we are, in the middle of a full-blown economic crisis, and Congress is still planning to fund a planetarium in Peoria, potato cloning in Maine, and a “World Trade Center” in Montana. There’s even a $5.8 million earmark for the “Ted Kennedy Institute for the Senate,” which will presumably teach generations of future senators how to stick it to productive Americans, if there’s any of them left by then.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-MD, tried to deflect well-deserved criticism of such wanton spending by distributing flyers at his weekly press conference that read: “You can’t spell ‘earmark’ without an R.”

Hoyer pointed out that 40 percent of the earmarks in the bill were sponsored by Republicans. Fair enough. But that means that 60 percent are sponsored by his fellow Democrats.

Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, is calling on Obama to keep his campaign promise. “The president should say, ‘Get that pork outta there, or I’ll veto it!’” McCain told FOX News. “We can’t afford to do this anymore.” Especially since the national debt will increase from $120K to $152K for each American household.

The omniporkus bill contains an eight percent increase over baseline spending at twice the rate of inflation, representing the largest discretionary spending hike since the “malaise” days of Jimmy Carter.

We all know what happened to him.

Barbara F. Hollingsworth is the Examiner’s local opinion editor.

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http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/columns/BarbaraHollingsworth/ACORN-LaRaza-get-double-dips-of-pork-barrel-in-stimulus-omnibus-spending-bills-40311877.html
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My Thoughts

Why do we keep rewarding failure? Why do we pay them for being a HUGE part of our economic troubles that we are facing today?

I guess he still owes them money for them supporting him during the campaign. Too bad he can't pay off the different cities that he still hasn't owes for campaign events.

Breaking News: Rotten ACORN's Next Act of Civil Disobedience in Tuscon, Arizona

EyesandEars: Home Owner Protests Foreclosure in Tuscon, AZ

This story was reported and written by Robert Temple. He is one of the HuffPost citizen journalists helping cover the on the ground effects of the foreclosure crisis.

As you drive south along South Park Avenue in southern Tucson, you pass streets named for U.S. states: Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Oklahoma. A symbolic reminder of the national scope of the housing crisis.

Ana Castro lives on Kentucky Street, filled with modest homes and lined with Palm and Palo Verde trees. Located just six miles from the Davis Mountain Air Force Base, the peaceful setting is often temporarily interrupted as pairs of A-10 Thunderbolt (a.k.a. 'Warthog') fighter jets streak by on training missions.

Ana's house isn't filled with expensive frills. A modest, well kept one story, two bedroom house of about 1000 square feet, there is no cable or high speed Internet connection. Ana doesn't own a computer, and the television brings in only local channels using a rabbit ear antenna.

She has lived in this house for fifteen years, easily affording the $430 mortgage payment while making small home improvements like planting a lemon tree and installing landscaping bricks with the help of friends and neighbors.

That began to change three years ago when she refinanced with Wells Fargo. What started out as an affordable $650 per month payment for the first two years started to increase. Her monthly payment is now $1450 at an interest rate of 17.5%. With Ana's job as a Prep cook at the Universal Medical Center bringing in $10.50 per hour, she is unable to keep up with her steadily increasing house payment.

How did Ana find herself in this situation? Ana says that the bank lied to her about the terms of her loan. Before she signed the finance agreement she was insistent about the monthly payments. She wanted to make sure she could afford them. The bank assured her she qualified.

Two years later when Ana noticed her payments rising, she called Wells Fargo asking for an explanation. Each time she called she talked with someone different than the last time. What didn't change was their answer: she agreed to the terms of the loan at the time she signed the papers, and she had no choice but to make the payments.

Soon Ana was unable to afford the monthly payments on her home of 15 years and the bank started foreclosure proceedings. Now when she calls them they tell her she has to make a payment of $4000 before they can even begin to do anything to help her.

In addition, the foreclosure has damaged Ana's credit rating, making it impossible for her to obtain other financing options.

With no where left to turn, Ana called the Tucson ACORN office. They have been a great source of support for Ana, providing financial advice and advocating in her behalf. ACORN also has a support system of volunteers called "Home Defenders", which are a group of volunteers foreclosed families can call at any time for support.

Through it all, Ana is hopeful and determined. Although feeling the stress of her uncertain future, she gives thanks to ACORN, as well as friends and neighbors and for their support and "Prays to God every single day" to let her keep her house.

Today, ACORN is hosting a protest and press conference at Ana's house. Jorge Garza is organizing the event, and is joined by others whose homes are being foreclosed. Madeleine Troyon, Dolores Fair and Maria Jimenes are all members of, and being supported by, ACORN. They each have a unique story to tell.

Madeleine was upbeat about the future, saying "I am so happy we have a president that is helping us."

Dolores is hoping for broader support, telling the people gathered there "We need our community to stand with us."

Jorge Garza, who works with victims of predatory lenders every day, sums it up this way: "Banks do not deserve 20 years of someone's life just because [the banks] were greedy."

As for Ana, she expects to keep her home, and says "We will fight to the last" to do so.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/23/eyesandears-home-owner-pr_n_169327.html
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My Thoughts

Looks like the ACORN thugs' next act of "civil disobedience" will be in Tuscon, Arizona. I'll keep you posted.

News The Rotten ACORN Doesn't Want You to Know and the MSM Won't Report

I am just going to leave the link her for everyone to click and read. It shows the real story behind the poster child of ACORN's campaign against the "evils" of home foreclosures.

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http://michellemalkin.com/2009/02/23/document-drop-the-truth-about-acorns-foreclosure-poster-child/
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My Thoughts

Couldn't they have picked someone better than Donna Hanks to be their poster child for home foreclosures that are happening to good, honest people who were doing their best to pay their mortgages but just can't. Could they not find one? Or did they not care about the truth just about spreading their propaganda. The truth be damned I guess. Will the liberal left lie, cheat, and steal to get what they want?

Rotten ACORN Breaks Law in Act of "Civil Disobedience"

Feb 19, 2009 6:50 pm US/Eastern

ACORN Trains Citizens To Protest Home Foreclosures

A community organization breaks into a foreclosed home in what they are calling an act of civil disobedience.

The group wants to train homeowners facing eviction on peaceful ways they can remain in their homes.

Derek Valcourt reports their actions are not without controversy.

Near Patterson Park, the padlock on the door and the sign in the window tell part of Donna Hanks foreclosure story.

"The mortgage went up $300 in one month," said Hanks, former homeowner.

She says the bank refused to modify her loan and foreclosed, kicking her out of the house in September.

The community group ACORN calls Hanks a victim of predatory lending.

"This is our house now," said Louis Beverly, ACORN.

And on Thursday afternoon, they literally broke the foreclosure padlock right off the front door and then broke into the house, letting Hanks back in for the first time in months.

"We are actually trespassing, and so this is a way of civil disobedience to try to stay in the house," said Beverly. "Legally it's wrong, but homesteading is the only means that she has left to stay in her house. And we feel as though this is the right thing to do at this particular time to save this family."

Inside, there's spray paint on the walls and evidence that someone has possibly been remodeling.

The group says it was staging similar demonstrations in six other cities nationwide while urging a moratorium on foreclosures.  They want that until President Obama's stimulus plan begins on March 4. The plan is designed to help threatened homeowners.

"As you all can see, Donna is reclaiming her home, and she's putting a lock on her door at this time," said Beverly.

But that padlock won't stay there for long.

The current property managers told Eyewitness News they were unaware of ACORN's actions Thursday and were contacting the police and their lawyers.

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http://wjz.com/local/acorn.foreclosure.2.939119.html
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My Thoughts

Well, this is just the beginning of the "community organizing" that they will do.

The "predatory lending" that was perpetrated against Mr. Hanks was the result of ACORN's bullying and intimidation of the banks and their managers to lend to people that could never pay it back or even get loan in the first place without ACORN's intervention. They have some nerve to just ignore their role in the mortgage crisis and pretend that it's not their fault.

People should be "community organizing" "civil disobedience" against ACORN.

Vitter (R-LA) Amendment Defeated (ACORN Barf Alert)
C-SPAN 2 | 03.06.09 | CONSERVATIVEINFERNO
Posted on 02/06/2009 8:26:18 PM PST

The Vitter Amendment would have prohibited ACORN from receiving any stimulus money. However, the amendment failed 51-45. Thus, ACORN may receive our tax dollars.

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2180234/posts
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My Thoughts
Great! Now one of the main architects of the financial crisis will get rewarded with our hard-earned money for ruining our housing market and by extension our economy. Thanks Dems. Whoever voted against this against this should be thrown out of office.

ACORN Gets a Big Piece of the Stimulus Pie

Republicans Object to Stimulus Dollars for ACORN
Republicans say voter registration and community groups like ACORN could be eligible for funding under the Democrats' economic stimulus bill. 
FOXNews.com
Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Republican lawmakers are raising concerns that ACORN, the low-income advocacy group under investigation for voter registration fraud, could be eligible for billions in aid from the economic stimulus proposal working its way through the House.

House Republican Leader John Boehner issued a statement over the weekend noting that the stimulus bill wending its way through Congress provides $4.19 billion for "neighborhood stabilization activities." 

He said the money was previously limited to state and local governments, but that Democrats now want part of it to be available to non-profit entities. That means groups like ACORN would be eligible for a portion of the funds.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., told FOX News Tuesday that the money could be seen as "payoff" for groups' political activities in the last election. ACORN generally supports Democratic candidates and actively backed President Obama last year.

But he said the funding is just one example of frivolous spending items in the $825 billion package. 

"It's just a long list of spending items. Not a real economic stimulus job creation bill," Vitter said. "It's line after line after line of favorite liberal spending programs, and it amounts to a big government bill -- not a job creation bill." 

Democratic leaders in the House have already dropped federal funding from the bill for new contraceptive services and ongoing programs to stop sexually transmitted diseases after Obama told them that it did not fit in with the job-creating objectives of the package.

Obama plans to meet with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill Tuesday to hear some their input on the package. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama is open to suggestions. 

"If there are good ideas -- and I think he assumes there will be -- we will look at those ideas," he said Monday.

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/01/27/republican-leaders-raise-concerns-acorn-stimulus-dollars/
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My Thoughts

Why is ACORN which played a big role in causing the current financial crisis and has scandal after scandal came out about voter registration fraud in favor of the Democratic candidates getting this what is being perceived as a "payoff" for the last election? This is supposed to be a bill that creates jobs and stimulates the economy. How is giving money to this left-wing organization for "neighborhood stabilization activities" going to stimulate the economy? What is "neighborhood stabilization activities" to them? Is it something like when ACORN bullied banks to lend money to people that couldn't afford to ever pay them back? This is just another example of government waste that the Democrats are trying to pass through Congress.