Thread: Controversy over ACORN flares in Texas

Controversy over ACORN flares in Texas
By Mike Ward
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, September 16, 2009

As controversy over the advocacy group ACORN flared from Washington into Texas on Tuesday, state politicians quickly began lining up to oppose federal financing for the group and to cut off any state financing.

At the same time, ACORN officials in Texas said the dispute was helping, not hurting, their work by triggering an outpouring of Lone Star support.

The back-and-forth unspooled Tuesday, a day after the U.S. Senate voted 83-7 to block the Department of Housing and Urban Development from giving grants to ACORN, which stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The vote was a response to hidden-camera videos released by conservative activists posing as a prostitute and a pimp that showed ACORN employees in Baltimore advising them to lie about her profession and launder her earnings to receive housing assistance.

The video was created by James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles and posted on BigGovernment.com, where O'Keefe identifies himself as an activist filmmaker. Other videos, aired frequently on media outlets such as the Fox News Channel, depict similar situations in ACORN offices in California, New York and the District of Columbia.

As the Senate moved to cut off all federal money to the group, Texas Republican officials weighed in.

"ACORN is a radical liberal organization facing serious allegations of voter fraud, as well as new charges stemming from the recent videos uncovering criminal conduct and should not receive taxpayer dollars," said Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, who is campaigning for U.S. Senate.

The issue became a flashpoint in the Texas governor's campaign, with incumbent Republican Rick Perry blasting GOP U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, his challenger, for skipping a vote on the issue to attend a fundraiser. Hutchison fired back with a photo showing Perry in 2005 surrounded by ACORN members as he signed a bill they supported.

Meanwhile, ACORN officials in Texas predicted that the five offices that serve an estimated 50,000 Texans — Austin currently has no office — would see little impact.

"This is actually backfiring on conservatives," said Ginny Goldman, head organizer of ACORN's Texas operations. "People who benefit from ACORN are saying, 'what can I do to help?' They're sending checks. They're mad. They know what this is about: politics."

Goldman said that even if the HUD money is cut, the group's Texas operations would not be affected much because they are financed through donations and grants from foundations.

"We never built this organization on government funding," she said. "If we thought the government was doing a good job at the programs that we assist low- and moderate-income families with, we wouldn't be in business."

In Texas, the group has offices in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso and provides programs that assist people with tax preparation, foreclosure prevention, new citizenship assistance, hurricane recovery, voter registration and counseling on coping with high summer electric bills. It is part of ACORN's national program of community outreach and advocacy.

The group is perhaps best known in Texas for filing a lawsuit after Hurricane Katrina that led to 4,200 families getting assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that they earlier had been denied.

Already under fire in several voter-fraud registration cases, ACORN on Tuesday was faced with calls for an FBI investigation into the latest flap. Last week, after months of GOP criticism of the U.S. Census Bureau's plans to work with ACORN in collecting census data and the group's voter-registration programs that they claim benefit Democrats, the census agency severed its ties with the organization.

The group conducted a massive voter registration effort last year and became a target of conservatives when some employees were accused of submitting false registration forms with names such as "Mickey Mouse."

On the hidden camera incident, ACORN said Tuesday that it has fired the employees involved, but it has lashed out at Fox for pumping up the scandal. In a statement, Bertha Lewis, ACORN's chief organizer, said the tapes had been doctored and violated Maryland's wiretapping laws. She promised to sue Fox.

Fox News spokeswoman Dana Klinghoffer said the tapes were vetted editorially before they were aired.

Conservative lawmakers in Washington and Texas insisted their criticisms of ACORN are on the mark.

State Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, said her office is investigating whether ACORN receives any state money, and if so, she is asking state officials to determine how financing can be stopped while the Legislature is not in session.

U.S. Rep Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, called for FBI and Department of Justice investigations into ACORN. Two other wannabes vying to replace Hutchison — Democrat John Sharp of Austin and Republican Florence Shapiro of Plano — said they would have voted with the Senate majority.

State officials said they could not immediately determine whether ACORN receives state money.

mward@statesman.com; 445-1712

Additional material from The Associated Press.


http://www.statesman.com/news/content/r ... acorn.html

I've seen what ACORN does for Texas, they lobby state politicians on the behalf of illegal aliens. Seen it with my own eyes in Austin.

I will almost bet they were down there lobbying against the ID for voting bill too.

Dixie

Barry Hussein Soetoro, Dunham, Obama, (et al)..

..is the most notorious illegal alien ever..!!



..he AND his cronies are a BIG part of ACORN..!!

MASSIVE registration AND voter fraud..!!!


Serious, Serious, Serious..!




Barry Hussein Soetoro..



He thinks he's a 'King'..

..in reality..

..he's a mafia Pimp..!!





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"..Seriously, WHY waste ANY time on ANY issue concerning the usurper & fellow cronies, when they ALL should be in prison RIGHT NOW..!!.."











www.obamanotqualified.com/eligibility_g ... ummies.htm
























www.AmericanGrandJury.org














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PS: Radio & stuff:
www.alipac.us/ftopict-139157-.html

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BIG PS: (esp for the ignorant and/or dazed ) STOP the chaos, ..this so-called ‘administration’ is a FARCE..!! ..just "Blagojevich" the fascist-marxist usurper & his mafia oligarchy NOW..!! [..for starters, go (& donate) to: www.alipac.us/ftopict-137238.html , www.TheObamaFile.com , www.ObamaNotQualified.com , www.WND.com/eligibility , www.ObamaCrimes.com , www.OrlyTaitzEsq.com , http://puzo1.blogspot.com , www.NaturalBornCitizen.wordpress.com , www.TheRightSideOfLife.com , www.AmericanGrandJury.org , Atlas Shrugs: Obamas Birth Certifcate Forgery ]