ACORN getting sued?

[Sugarcoated]

I've heard little snippets here and there from Republican's having a problem with the organization ACORN, and then today FOX did a story that it's getting sued? The lead in to the story was about the RNC suing ACORN for alleged voter fraud, but in the story that didn't get talked about. Whats up with this, does anyone know?

[leftofcool]

1. Yep

I have heard that ACORN has been engaged in some dirty dealings but am not sure what it is all about yet.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

2. arent' they the grouo that registered a lot of Dems and the Reps are po'd about it?

n/t

[spag68]

4. ACORN

I don't know much about it, except that they have been around for a long time registering voters in poor neighborhoods. I think I remember them doing other community work.

[Sugarcoated]

7. Yeah

but I'm not hearing specifics on what they're being accused of having done.

[chascarrillo]

9. Thanks for repeating assertions that you don't know anything about.

[spag68]

3. getting sued

I'm surprised that little has been made of a court decision from last week. I thought I heard that a court approved of Dan Rather's suit going forward. If anyone else heard this I would be interested.

[Sugarcoated]

5. Is Rather connected to ACORN?

[soccermomforobama]

6. McCain and ACORN

I was on another forum earlier and I started digging into the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Act of 2005. It was cosponsored by McCain and it is often quoted by his surrogates as an example Johnny Mac's attempt to reform Freddie and Fannie (it was never signed into law). As I learned more about the Act, I realized that ACORN-the very group the RNC despises would have benefitted greatly if this Act had been passed and signed into law (do not see the Republicans bragging about that)

Here are all of the details:

The Act would have established the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Agency, which would have overseen Freddie and Fannie (along with some other organizations/agencies)

But it also allowed the Federal Home Loan Banks to be exempt from certain reporting requirements (deregulation). The reporting requirements date back to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The purpose of SEA of 1934-The act outlaws misrepresentation, Manipulation, and other abusive practices in the issuance of securities. It created the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to enforce both the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

source: http://www.answers.com/topic/securities-exchange-act-of-1934

Some of those exemptions were to be regarding: certain reports, proxies and registration and regulation of brokers and dealers

sources: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s109-190

http://www.law.uc.edu/CCL/34Act/index.html

http://www.fhlbanks.com/

Here is some information on the Federal Home Loan Banks and its programs:

Affordable Housing Program and Community Investment Program
The affordable housing and economic development programs of the twelve FHLBanks consist of grants and low-interest loans to member financial institutions to use to provide financing for economic development and housing activities.

FHLBank grants and low-interest loans are catalysts for the construction and revitalization of housing targeted to people with low- and moderate-incomes. AHP- funded projects serve a wide range of neighborhood needs; many are designed for seniors, the disabled, homeless families, first-time homeowners and others with limited resources.

AHP Eligibility
• AHP grants can be used to fund housing for families or individuals with incomes at or below 80% of the area median.
• For AHP funded rental housing, 20% of the units must serve households with incomes at or below 50% of the area median.
• • Funding is awarded only to financial institution members of the FHLBank System working in partnership with a community sponsor organization

for more info on the programs of FHLBanks: http://www.fhlbanks.com/html/programs.html

This Act would have benefited ACORN because of the following:

One of the programs under FHLB has the following eligibility:
• Funding is awarded only to financial institution members of the FHLBank System working in partnership with a community sponsor organization

ACORN is one of those community sponsor organizations. Two examples of ACORN benefiting from the program are below:

Arizona ACORN (located in Phoenix) was the sponsor organization that got a subsidy of $300,000 for 30 ownership units (pg.14 of source)

ACORN Housing Corp. of Illinois (Chicago) was the sponsor organization that received 2 subsidies of $150,000 for 15 ownership units each (pg 18 of source)
source: http://www.fhfb.gov/GetFile.aspx?FileID=6773

I do find it ironic that the two ACORN groups who I could find that benefitted from this program are in AZ and IL.

[Sugarcoated]

8. Odd little coincidence.

So the lawsuit doesn't have to do with voter registration?

[Emit]

10. The scoop is they're going to tie it to Obama, mark my words

Rush and Hannity both have been hitting on ACORN for some time now, saying Obama was employed by ACORN when he was a community organizer, and about ACORN being tied to voter fraud (not sure of details, but they keep saying they've been accused of voter fraud in the past).



And Lindsey Graham was out there this week claiming:

This is what Lindsey Graham said on Greta's show: “And this deal that's on the table now is not a very good deal. Twenty percent of the money that should go to retire debt that will be created to solve this problem winds up in a housing organization called ACORN that is an absolute ill-run enterprise, and I can't believe we would take money away from debt retirement to put it in a housing program that doesn't work.”

ACORN? ACORN

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MmFmNGNlNjY5NDU0ZGI5MzY0Mjc0ZTllOTNhYTc2ZGI=


Edite to add...
Here's more info on their claims:

~snip~

“We are concerned that ACORN has been connected with Senator Obama and that he has ties to it,” said Danforth. “He directed something called Project Vote; he taught classes for future leaders that are identified by ACORN; and he has represented ACORN in court in a lawsuit against the state of Illinois. ACORN’s political action committee has endorsed Senator Obama.”


Danforth expressed alarm that ACORN has been bringing in large numbers of names, many who are not qualified to vote, and the practice may be “gumming” up the system. He added that after the enactment of the Help America Vote Act in 2002, there has been a requirement for statewide computerization of registered voters and that the local overseers may become overwhelmed by the sheer numbers being put forth by ACORN.


Between Danforth and Rudman, they ticked off an inventory of what they perceived as likely trouble spots:



In Ohio in the last election, there were four counties where voter registration exceeded the number of voting-age people in the counties.



In Colorado, ACORN registered some individuals 40 separate times. Danforth noted that the ACORN director in Ohio played this down, saying in effect just because you register somebody 35 times doesn’t mean that they get to vote 35 times. “So, a fairly cavalier attitude,” he concluded.



In Nevada, nearly 1,000 felons were illegally registered to vote in 2004.



In Washington state, felony charges were brought against ACORN workers and some went to jail.



On Sept. 18th in The Washington Post, an article pointed out the danger that Election Day could become a real mess because of the applications turned in for registration of people who are not entitled to vote.



In Michigan, ACORN enrolled 200,000 voters and a spokesman for the secretary of state of Michigan has said that there appears to be a sizable number of duplicate and fraudulent applications.



The Clark County, Nev., registrar claims that there has been rampant fraud, and counts roughly 40 percent of registration applications submitted by ACORN from January through July had been rejected or questioned.



In Pennsylvania, official are investigating ACORN for filing fraudulent voter registrations. One ACORN worker is facing 19 counts of perjury for making false statements.



In Wisconsin, more allegations of fraud. Milwaukee election officials recently turned in 32 more voter registration workers to the district attorney’s office for possible prosecution, bringing the total to 39.



The secretary of state of Ohio is, in effect, disenfranchising many who have relied on printed applications for absentee ballots -- claiming that because appropriate boxes not been checked on the card requesting the ballot that the person shouldn’t get the ballot. “So we are concerned that a lot of people who want to vote absentee in Ohio are not going to be able to do so,” concluded Danforth.



Rudman zeroed in on the case of Michigan where “we believe that the Obama campaign has made really false claims about trying to suppress voters there.”


“Our concern is that if this is a close election ... and if one side believes it has been cheated ... it is going to be harder to heal the wounds that are created at election time,” said Danforth.

~snip~

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/mccain_voter_fraud/2008/09/22/133361.html

[McCamy Taylor]

11. Newsmax is Reich Wing propaganda. They are screaming "vote fraud" to get the GOP

voter suppression efforts geared up on the local level. Expect to see a lot of challenges of lawful Democratic voters on election day.

[Emit]

12. Yes, McCamy. I see it that way, too, and, for the record, I only posted NewsMax

and quoted Rush, et al to elaborate on what the OP asked about with regard to the Fox News story.

[quakerboy]

13. What I found in a few moments of search

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/700310.html
They found 2 problematic voter reg cards in Florida

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20080925/pl_usnw/crl_testimony_on_acorn_s_voter_fraud
So the "Consumers Rights League" accused them of voter fraud and embezelment?
"The Consumers Rights League provides an alternative voice from those organizations that argue for reduced consumer choice or increased government intervention as a policy of first choice."
I am wondering what consumers rights has to do with voter reg.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/27/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4483168.shtml
And apparently giving the states rights to control some of the money distribution, and any potential that it could go to ACORN really chaps some Repubie ass.