Tables begin to turn on Anti-ACORN crowd

[ck4829]

Two top House Democrats requested Tuesday that the Congressional Research Service conduct an analysis into whether recent legislation to strip federal funds from community-organizing group Acorn is unconstitutional.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., want details on how proposed House and Senate legislation could be deeming Acorn guilty of illegal activity and punishing it without the benefit of a trial or being proven guilty.

The House and Senate approved legislation last week to halt federal funds distributed to Acorn. The legislation stems from a series of secretly recorded videos showing Acorn employees offering advice on evading taxes, setting up brothels and smuggling illegal immigrants. In the past, Acorn employees have admitted to filling out false voter-registration forms.

Additionally, Conyers and Frank want the videotaping to be investigated. "Conflicting allegations have been made about the propriety of these activities," a letter to the research center read. "Please research and report on the federal and state laws that could apply to such videotaping and distribution of conversations without the consent of all parties."

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090922-710085.html

"I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of the people. They never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."

- Paul Weyrich, one of the ideological founders of the modern conservative movement.

[robinlynne]

1. right on!

[roguevalley]

22. the defunding law is so broad that it applies to EVERYONE who

broke a law including most of the defense contractors, etc out there. no money. so sorry.

[Myrina]

2. K&R so everyone can see that outrageous quote from Weyrich ...

:mad: That, in itself, is reason enough for citizens of all stripes to vote AGAINST the GOP for the next hundred years or so ...

[wicket]

3. K & R

[BlooInBloo]

4. I wonder if people (from DUers to congresscritters) will ever realize...

that if republicans say something, it's either a lie or a scam.

Backing up a step, I wonder if they care.

[mdmc]

5. yes

[Peacetrain]

19. That should be the first thing that comes to mind when the right opens it's collective maw

what lie are they telling now

[tosh]

6. One big happy KICK.

[lpbk2713]

7. KO had a funny piece on last night's show.

It seems that disgraced South Carolina Governor Sanford issued a decree to halt all state funding to Acorn immediately.

His underlings came back and told the uninformed Governor -- um, sir, Acorn never had any funding from SC to begin with. :rofl:





Sanford makes Gov Lepetomaine look like a genius.

[ck4829]

8. Maybe he should spending a little less time hiking the appalachian trail

And a little more time governing the state.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

20. Yeah, Jindal did the exact thing about a week or two ago

Dolts!! :banghead:

[Mister Ed]

27. So did Minnesoata Governor Tim Pawlenty

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/house/60263592.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU

Gov. Tim Pawlenty also plunged into the controversy, demanding that ACORN be cut off from all state funding -- which the group doesn't currently receive

Reality just doesn't matter to these cynical SOBs. Pawlenty knows he scored points with the GOP base with that meaningless declaration, and that's all that matters.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

29. FAIL!!!!!!!!!!

:banghead:

[BonnieJW]

37. I thought that was Bobby Jindal?

[Scurrilous]

9. K & R

:thumbsup:

[gratuitous]

10. Darn socialists!

Always gettin' in the way of a good lynching. Had them ACORN folks right where Fox wanted 'em, too. We didn't need no investigations to know that Dick Cheney was totally innocent; he told he was innocent hisself. And his daughter vouched for him. I didn't hear none of the daughters of them ACORN terrorists vouching for them! Verdict first, then trial!

[Taverner]

11. Yes because the video FOX is pushing was staged and faked

[NewJeffCT]

36. I'd be shocked, shocked if Fox ever staged/faked anything

The producer at the Teabagger rally was just exercising her arms, not directing the crowd... the Acorn video was unedited and complete... Sean Hannity really is not a complete & total asshole.

[MagickMuffin]

12. Three CHEERS for Chairman's Conyers and Frank

I have been hoping this would lead to a more thorough investigation, as I too was wondering how something like this could have been voted on before a real investigation took place. It is rather disgusting that members of congress pass laws based on spurious claims.

I guess Hannah and James better start running to the RWers for legal help. I'm sure there will plenty of donations to support them from the Scummy Trash Heap of "values voters" Party's deep pockets.
Then they'll start their (cue 1, 2, 3, 4) "We're being Victimized!" campaign.

[goclark]

13. Thank you for Conyers and Frank

:bounce:

[malaise]

14. K & R

This is going to backfire in the Rethugs faces.

[wroberts189]

15. It's about time someone stood up to this crap. nt

[Whisp]

18. dang rights, good for Conyers and Frank.

took a bit too long imo and the memes are out and the stupid will forever associate ACORN with bad practices no matter how it all turns out in the end because of the skewed coverage of the nonstory the spineless and weak who believed it wholy right from the start (and there are plenty of invertibrates right here amongst us) and the lack of journalistic intergrity we have all learned to rely on, etc.

[wroberts189]

25. There is a saying I learned on DU....

A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.


googling...

Quoted by: Samuel Clemens, more commonly known as Mark Twain

[Greyskye]

16. "...our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."

"I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of the people. They never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."

- Paul Weyrich, one of the ideological founders of the modern conservative movement.

:puke:

[Cha]

17. Please get this sorted out,

Dems.

[samsingh]

21. kick

[spanone]

23. i want investigations to find out if anyone is guilty of anything...

they should not pull funding on video alone. this is not justice.

[myrna minx]

24. K&R Great news!

[sonias]

26. Good diary on DailyKos about the same thing

They Want To Punish ACORN? Two Can Play This Game
(snip)

Really? "Any organization that has filed a fraudulent form with any Federal or State regulatory agency" can no longer receive federal funds? (And individuals who've merely been indicted for election law violations, whether or not the charges were proven?) The bill further defines "organization" as including ACORN and its affiliates, but it doesn't say it only includes ACORN-related entities. So, gosh, I imagined, there's a lot of entities that suddenly qualify.

As Ryan Grim reports on HuffPo today, Rep. Alan Grayson had the same thought:

The congressional legislation intended to defund ACORN, passed with broad bipartisan support, is written so broadly that it applies to "any organization" that has been charged with breaking federal or state election laws, lobbying disclosure laws, campaign finance laws or filing fraudulent paperwork with any federal or state agency. It also applies to any of the employees, contractors or other folks affiliated with a group charged with any of those things.

In other words, the bill could plausibly defund the entire military-industrial complex. Whoops.

Oh please do go on...

We should all write our Congressmen/women and demand that they adhere to this legislation immediately. Lets start with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Gumman and continue down the list, one by one. Cutting them all off.

Sonia

[shintao]

31. Investigate Giles & O'Keefe!!!

Good Post Sonia!

Don't let investigators do a half of a job here. I want to know where the two young photogs got their money to travel all over this nation pulling their scam? I want to know have either of these two been outside the country (passports), and could they have ties to human trafficking? I want to know what the real purpose of these tapes were to be used for, before the two photogs were exposed. I want to know what other tapes, books, letters, photos or documents they have in their possession, including any tapes for human trafficking, pornography, etc. on hard drives, emails. I want their lives turned upside down and exposed. I want to know if the real intent here was not to blackmail ACORN employees.

So yes, we need to demand Giles & O'Keefe be completely investigated for any criminal activities. It just has a sniff of reporter smell to me.

[mzmolly]

28. .

:kick:

[ovidsen]

30. Wingnuts open mouths, insert feet.

The zeal with which Republicans sought to "defund" and demonize ACORN is turning into a farce!

I especially enjoyed reading (in earlier posts on this thread) about the Republican governors who are demanding an immediate cutoff of state funding.... which doesn't exist. Now THAT'S dumb.

Here's another take on the story from The Hill. I urge my fellow DUers to check out some of the wingnut entries in the comments section. They'll make you laugh. They'll scare you, too.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/59809-frank-conyers-come-to-acorns-aid

edit to add link (duh!)

[BluDemocratGirl]

32. So, the GOP is winning, right? NOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big ups to Conyers and Franlk for putting those RePUKEblicans in check.

[Turborama]

33. K&R Great news, thanks for sharing it. n/t

[rasputin1952]

34. What ever happened to those GOP operatives that dumped hundreds of voter

registration cards into the dumpster behind the HQ's?

What ever happened to the GOP operatives that filled out false and changed the party of those they went out to register?

One set-up "sting" that smacks of entrapment, and all hell breaks loose?

Wonder why they didn't show the clips of all the times they failed in their attempts to get people to go along...there were a lot more of those than the couple of "hits" they got. And just where did the funding for the excursions come from?

[spiritual_gunfighter]

35. As more things are revealed about how these videos were made

and how much of what we haven't seen reveals about what really happened here, maybe some of the DU's that are not defending ACORN and saying it is time for them to close up shop will be quiet.

[suffragette]

38. Very good news

K&R

[Overseas]

39. K&R. //nt