For Obama supporters, read and tell me what you think?

September 30, 2008 12:00 AM


Guilty Party


ACORN, Obama, and the mortgage mess.





By Mona Charen





The financial markets were teetering on the edge of an abyss last week. The secretary of the Treasury was literally on his knees begging the speaker of the House not to sabotage the bailout bill. The crash of falling banks made the earth tremble. The Republican presidential candidate suspended his campaign to deal with the crisis. And amid all this, the Democrats in Congress managed to find time to slip language into the bailout legislation that would provide a dandy little slush fund for ACORN.





ACORN stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, a busy hive of left-wing agitation and “direct action” that claims chapters in 50 cities and 100,000 dues-paying members. ACORN is where Sixties leftovers who couldn’t get tenure at universities wound up. That the bill-writing Democrats remembered their pet clients during such an emergency speaks volumes. This attempted gift to ACORN (stripped out of the bill after outraged howls from Republicans) demonstrates how little Democrats understand about what caused the mess we’re in.





ACORN does many things under the umbrella of “community organizing.” They agitate for higher minimum wages, attempt to thwart school reform, try to unionize welfare workers (that is, those welfare recipients who are obliged to work in exchange for benefits) and organize voter registration efforts (always for Democrats, of course). Because they are on the side of righteousness and justice, they aren’t especially fastidious about their methods. In 2006, for example, ACORN registered 1,800 new voters in Washington. The only trouble was, with the exception of six, all of the names submitted were fake. The secretary of state called it the “worst case of election fraud in our state’s history.” As Fox News reported: “The ACORN workers told state investigators that they went to the Seattle public library, sat at a table and filled out the voter registration forms. They made up names, addresses, and Social Security numbers and in some cases plucked names from the phone book. One worker said it was a lot of hard work making up all those names and another said he would sit at home, smoke marijuana and fill out the forms.”





ACORN explained that this was an “isolated” incident, yet similar stories have been reported in Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, and Colorado — all swing states, by the way. ACORN members have been prosecuted for voter fraud in a number of states. (See www.rottenacorn.com.) Their philosophy seems to be that everyone deserves the right to vote, whether legal or illegal, living or dead.





ACORN recognized very early the opportunity presented by the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977. As Stanley Kurtz has reported, ACORN proudly touted “affirmative action” lending and pressured banks to make subprime loans. Madeline Talbott, a Chicago ACORN leader, boasted of “dragging banks kicking and screaming” into dubious loans. And, as Sol Stern reported in City Journal, ACORN also found a remunerative niche as an “advisor” to banks seeking regulatory approval. “Thus we have J.P. Morgan %26amp; Co., the legatee of the man who once symbolized for many all that was supposedly evil about American capitalism, suddenly donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to ACORN.” Is this a great country or what? As conservative community activist Robert Woodson put it, “The same corporations that pay ransom to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton pay ransom to ACORN.”





ACORN attracted Barack Obama in his youthful community organizing days. Madeline Talbott hired him to train her staff — the very people who would later descend on Chicago’s banks as CRA shakedown artists. The Democratic nominee later funneled money to the group through the Woods Fund, on whose board he sat, and through the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, ditto. Obama was not just sympathetic — he was an ACORN fellow traveler.





Now you could make the case that before 2008, well-intentioned people were simply unaware of what their agitation on behalf of non-credit-worthy borrowers could lead to. But now? With the whole financial world and possibly the world economy trembling and cracking like a cement building in an earthquake, Democrats continue to try to fund their friends at ACORN? And, unashamed, they then trot out to the TV cameras to declare “the party is over” for Wall Street (Nancy Pelosi)? The party should be over for the Democrats who brought us to this pass. If Obama wins, it means hiring an arsonist to fight a fire





|||wow---too bad republicans can't cast multiple votes also.-----the DNC and associates just keep getting dirtier---nothing could surprise us anymore they could do.|||The worst scandal in our history is going on right now. Cheney and company have pushed poor muddle-headed Geoge W, into a less-than-useless "war" that is bankrupting the nation financially, diplomatically, socially and militarily, creating in the process debts that our grandchildren won't be able to pay snd squandering good will toward America that took centuries to earn. At the same time they have run roughshod over civil rights and the Constitution, and to top it off failed to adequately regulate financial markets, which has led to the credit and housing collapse, and allowed a few greedy corporations and individuals to make obscene, tax-free profits at he expense of the nation as a whole. Throw in unchecked environmental degradation and the insidious introduction of religion into national policy and you have the worst presidency in our history.





Congress gets a share of the blame. They don't have the guts to stand up to the White House, or do what they were elected to do: act in the interest of the nation as a whole rather than being yes-men for whatever special interest group they think will help get them re-elected.





Other than that, everything in Washington is just peachy.


|||None of this crap is directly Obama's doing. Blaming him for this would be akin to arresting someone for being friends with a person who turned out to be a thief. It's not his fault they did what they did. I doubt he approved and also I'm sure McCain has been associated with some pretty sketchy stuff as well.|||I think it's a bunch of bull. But thanks for asking any way.|||And..... What does this have to do with the Obama campaign? Does this group receive money form the Obama camp? The days ar numbered for you republicans you have no leadership, all you do is lie, and grandstand. Pathetic really to come in here whith this nonsense.|||This article just seems petty and biased to me really..





"ACORN is where Sixties leftovers who couldn’t get tenure at universities wound up." seems really childish for a reporter





And BOOMER i happen to know TRUTH is smart and is voting for Obama for the right reasons|||Yes, all very true. No matter what you show of his beliefs, past or even his true intentions for America- his followers simply don't care. They think he is the end all be all- Socialism and all. They want the government to spoon feed them and take care of them, why? They feel that they are entitled to it, mind you at the expense of others hard work. I am so sad for this country and we are going into more difficult times than most even can fathom should he get elected. Freedom of speech will be the first to go as it was seen here in Missiouri last week with the lawyers and sheriffs Obama hired to prevent negative ads about him to be run. I am mortified by his past and his current dealings but what can we do? The media is playing in this game more then they even did with Kerry and Gore............. Very sad. |||truly an organization after obamma's heart, they well do well during an obamma presidency|||I read it and I think it doesn't even compare to this:


http://mccainkeatingfive.com/


My guess is that you will not bother to even read it.|||I think this is a very convoluted and not exactly accurate description, but its a free country, This is just not relevant.