Comments on: Covering ACORN with a hatchet

By: mark

mark — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:25:42 +0000

ACORN and all voter reg orgs are required to police the voter apps they collect, the reason they were set aside and so easily "found" by the repubs. Period. I find it so interesting that almost all repubs do not understand this; however, it is 100% correct to support the purging of 30,000 registered voters by repub secs of state (i.e., GA, CO).

I do not know enough about requirements for non-profit status, but if endorsing a candidate or party is not allowed by law, then ACORN should be in trouble. The Catholic Church may take the same view. Justice may be slow, but I do hope this matter is cleared. I, too, would not want my tax dollars wasted.

By: Steven Carrier

Steven Carrier — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:25:09 +0000

It just shows that the GOP can fool some of the people all of the time.
Acorn registers voters. It does not bring them to the polls. If some one registers Mickey Mouse or the Dallas Cowboys they are REQUIRED to submit the registration forms even if they know they are not valid. Acorn even poionted out the ones they thaught were fraudulant. Failure to do so would be a crime. If Mickey Mouse shows up at the polls then you can worry. Will the Dallas Cowboys fly to Nevada to vote? This to protect people that may have unusual names or share the same name as a celebrity. A good friend of mine a registered Republican and former office holder in Arizona has done a lot work for the Census in the past. In order to get the work done they must hire many temps from the same social strata as Acorn does. If some one sits at home and copies a page out of the phone book. The overwhelming odds are if they show up to vote, they were already registered. Most states require some sort of ID at the polls. All ytou folks in Nevada say hello to the Cowboys for me. This just a GOP smoke screen to purge real voters off the rolls that won't vote for them.

By: David, Silver Spring, MD

David, Silver Spring, MD — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:04:54 +0000

The situation surrounding ACORN suggests it has been politically targeted by the current administration in an attempt to help its fellow Republican candidate. Before accepting or promoting the notion that ACORN is "threatening the fabric of our democracy," as J. McCain put it, one needs to ask

1) Was ACORN attempting to deceive election officials through the submission of invalid registrations?
2) How was ACORN intending to take advantage of the submission of invalid registrations to cast illegal ballots in the election? and
3) What evidence exists that any voter registration actions in which ACORN was intended to benefit one candidate over another?

Unless someone can answer these questions, we shouldn't persist in a witch hunt against ACORN just because right wing radio talkers and partisan agents seek to undermine ACORN, its voter registration efforts, and its reputation.

By: Independant vet

Independant vet — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:04:49 +0000

Looks as if not only The Catholics , can not get of one mess an they pile into another . What were they trying to gain by twisting voters to vote for Obama. ? Another little secret that will come out in years . I myself have never downed any Religon. I have always stated . As long as they belive in God, it is better than nothing .

They the , ones that signed on the dotted line , is the one to be held accountable. For I am sure among them , they were not all in favor of giving all them dollars to Acorn for Obama.

God Bless America , an may God protect us from having such an hatefull person , that wants to destroy our freedom , along with our flag. . Please God no Obama.

By: Candace

Candace — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:04:27 +0000

People....stop confusing Voter fraud with the stories regarding alleged Voter registration fraud. When and if actual voter fraud is uncovered (that is someone actually showing up to vote as say "Mickey Mouse" for example) that would be an issue. Im sure the actual voter fraud numbers will be very small to non-existent in most states. This is another scare tactic used by the GOP and its supporters. Just a desire to win at any cost regardless of who's reputation they burn to the ground. The Catholic Church should know better and focus more on its other issues like the 'actual' number of molestation cases against its clergy.

By: Candace

Candace — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:03:56 +0000

People....stop confusing Voter fraud the stories regarding alleged Voter registration fraud. When and if actual voter fraud is uncovered (that is someone actually showing up to vote as say "Mickey Mouse" for example) that would be an issue. Im sure the actual voter fraud numbers will be very small to non-existent in most states. This is another scare tactic used by the GOP and its supporters. Just a desire to win at any cost regardless of who's reputation they burn to the ground. The Catholic Church should know better and focus more on its other issues like the 'actual' number of molestation cases against its clergy.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:03:09 +0000

By: Patty

Patty — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:02:40 +0000

That was the saddest post of all, Aimee. The Church tries to help poor people buy homes and then finds out the organization that was supposed to be about helping the poor is out to further their own agenda their own way. So the Church stops supporting them since they are not keeping their end of the bargin. Sounds fair to me.

What's the real reason you're not Catholic anymore?

By: majikimaje

majikimaje — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:01:15 +0000

Proven Fact : Michelle Obama, Barak and willam Ayers are all BOARD members of Acorn. Get the real unbiased facts at worldlnetdaily dot com !

By: FixAcorn

FixAcorn — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:58:48 +0000

They need to fix ACORN by:
Removing the law that forces ACORN to turn in all registration forms (which is what caused this mess)

By: Alan J Goldstein

Alan J Goldstein — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:52:18 +0000

Who needs the support of pedophiles?

By: Marc PDX

Marc PDX — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:51:46 +0000

Sounds like you're hatcheting the Catholic Church to me.

To the Catholic Church: chose your friends carefully. When push comes to shove that's what you may get if you pick unwisely.

By: The Stallion & The Champ vs. The Old Mule and Winky Half-baked Alaska

The Stallion & The Champ vs. The Old Mule and Winky Half-baked Alaska — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:47:55 +0000

John McCain is on videotape addressing ACORN and praising the work they do, so all you right-wing, nutjob hacks shut your ugly pieholes!!! Spawn Insanity and Blowhole O'Reilly are calling you ...

By: John

John — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:47:01 +0000

More fairy stories from the Catholic church don't they have enough of these myths and fairy stories in their Bible

By: James

James — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:46:38 +0000

judging by the comments people dont know who the hell to blame for this, so how can we be blaming people, both sides are always pulling this crap, and if you havent been on the moon last 8 years it was the Republicans most famous trick, so hows this suddenly become a democrat issue? are people that scared that we wont have a ditz as VP and a senile old man for president? just dont know what to say anymore lol. Seen a sign on tv "use your brain vote McCain" thats funny concidering the smart people didnt vote for him. HAHAHA cry cry cry, thats all we will hear if the dems win this, a nation of whiners will truly emerge, if you listen to their idiotic chants at the rallies it shouldnt surprise you.

By: Michael M, Phoenix AZ

Michael M, Phoenix AZ — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:41:06 +0000

Screw the Catholic Church....ALL religion MUST be kept out of politics...PERIOD!

By: MCinMD

MCinMD — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:40:49 +0000

The notion that ACORN tried to commit voter fraud by registering the Dallas Cowboys is simply unfounded. Do you really think someone posing as Tony Romo (or Micky Mouse in another case) was going to show up and try to vote? The reality is that ACORN hired some minimum wage workers to do voter registration and some idiot sat down and started filling in registration cards instead of doing the work. Such idiots should be prosecuted. The conservative echo chamber also never points out that ACORN itself has in most cases identified these problem registrations and informed election officials.

By: John

John — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:40:02 +0000

Ellen in Ohio...I agree, and don't forget to throw in our public universities and schools as well. It is no wonder our youth only vote one party...it is all they are force fed.

By: True Blue Ohio

True Blue Ohio — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:38:00 +0000

ACORN functioned in the same capacity in the 2004 election. They had problems back then. In my opinion, they should not have been allowed to operate given their past history. However, their actions have nothing to do with Barack. They are a third party, the only people responsible for ACORN, is their administration. And the names of those individuals should be released as they were the ones who neglected to provide oversight for their employees. No one else should be held responsible for their incompetence but them.

By: Agnes Fleming

Agnes Fleming — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:37:28 +0000

By the way, Acorn has nothing to do with voting, only helping to register those who are disinclined. It is not about voter fraud, which I am sure we will see plenty of before this night is over, lest we forget Florida in 2008, and that had nothing to do with Acorn. That had to do with George Bush stealing the election along with his brother, Jeb, who was Governor of Florida at the time and Catherine Harris, the real frauds. I wonder what could possibly happen tonight, but nothing like distracting us with Acord?

By: Nancy

Nancy — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:34:28 +0000

Paul, I believe what you mean is martial law. I am concerned that Obama wants to start a special military. hmmmm.. reminds me of something like the KGB. Does anyone have info on that?

By: jay

jay — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:34:17 +0000

Drew maybe if you approached them as a nuetral journalist rather than an opinionated populist, you would not have these problems investigating this organization. just a thought.

By: Granny

Granny — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:34:11 +0000

David Lopez, get your head out of the sand. The Democratic party under Bill Clinton were the ones that are at fault for the financial crisis. They are the ones that called for fannie mae and freddie mac to reduce the criteria for low income families to make it easier for them to obtain loans. That had nothing to do with Bush. Also, don't forget that the president is not the only one responsible for the recession in our economy. We have had a Democratic congress for the last few years, and they too have to be held accountable. Not a Democrat, but a Republican (John McCain), proposed legislation in 2005 for more oversight into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because he recognized the danger to our economy. The Democrats, including Obama, profited substantially from these two financial giants and they didn't do anything to curtail them.

By: Puzzled

Puzzled — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:33:34 +0000

Thank God my church has divorced themselves from these thugs.

By: Perusing-Through

Perusing-Through — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:32:23 +0000

THE ACORN ACCUSATION HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY OVER BLOWN WITH THE SUPPORT OF JOHN McCAIN, THE GOP, AND KARL ROVIAN COPY-CATS. When the dust clears, evidence will come to light that proves any unintentional mishaps by Acorn is no greater in percentages than any previous presidential election year. Acorn just got caught up in the GOP drive-by 'character shootings'. John McNasty needed another way to attack Senator Obama's character so he concocted "Acorn-Voter-Fraud" stew and tried to hit Obama with it. Unfortunately Acorn was in the middle of the attack and was caught completely off guard and not ready to defend itself.

By: Common Sense in Fresno

Common Sense in Fresno — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:31:25 +0000

As stated before, they have to turn in every application received.

This is a non-story, especially in the national scheme of things.

It is refreshing that the Obama campaign has been so lacking in mistakes that this is getting played up.

By: nitro

nitro — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:30:48 +0000

You idiots have lied ,stolen and cheated for so long just the thought that it might be happening to you make you sick to your stomach. Well live with it because thats what poor people in this country has had to live with for hundreds of years. Take this time to take a look at yourselves and figure out what it is that you can do to bring this country together. 1country 1 Love

By: Iowa Conservative

Iowa Conservative — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:28:37 +0000

Voter Fraud is not really that bad when you take into consideration how much the Electoral College distorts the Popular Vote anyways. I am not saying that they didn't do anything wrong by any means. But, I really think that if we are going to change things.... we should change the system also.

Just a thought...

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:28:29 +0000

Republicans ran the economy into the ground. Senator Obama's advisors were top Fannnie Mae/ Fredie Mac executives (and also Democrats).
Banks were forced by federal regulatons to make risky loans to to pople who could not afford them–thanks to Jimmy Carter and strengthened legislation pushed though by President Clinton.

Tax Breaks for the rich–paying out a lower percentage brought in the highest revenue in history in dollars. When it is repealed, expect companies paying higher taxes will lay off workers.

In an interview Senator Obama ackowledge that higher taxes will bring in less dollars but he thought it fairer. What it eans is that the people creating jobs in the country pay more while there is less money in the national coffers to pay for government programs.

Obama warn yesterday that his own energy plans will skyrocket electricity bills (because he opposes coal industry). He's telling us how he will trash America but people still trust him because of his charisma.

By: J. S.

J. S. — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:28:05 +0000

With all the voter fraud going on–we probably will never know who REALLY won the election-

By: Cam

Cam — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:27:50 +0000

This is a call for fair and complete journalism. I mean, many people on here, due to the negligence and bias of Drew Griffin and Lou Dobbs, do not understand the difference between voter REGISTRATION fraud and voter fraud......

Registration fraud, which is what ACORN is accused of, very rarely (like 20 reported cases EVER) results in election fraud. this is a scare tactic from Republicans, pure and simple.

Again, fire Drew Griffin and let him go over to Fox News where he belongs......send Dobbs with him......

By: maurice

maurice — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:27:40 +0000

We Are All Real Americans: do you live by a river in egypt called denile? i have seen 2 videos of acorn people in front of crowds saying lets get obama elected.

By: KJL

KJL — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:27:33 +0000

One candidate? John McCain was also involved with ACORN, when he thought it was to his advantage.

By: Missouri in Philly

Missouri in Philly — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:26:52 +0000

Ben, Are you kidding, 8 years of bad economy? where have you been? The economy has been rocking since recovering from 911... High gas prices and lack of oversight on Fannie and Freddy have put the skids on this economy only recently (and both the failure to drill domestically and failure of key Dem legislators to heed the warning signs about risky lending are to blame). If you want change, the Dem house and Senate is already giving it to you... and when they repeal your tax cuts, everyone will stop spending and the economy will really shut down.

By: Sue in MI

Sue in MI — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:26:47 +0000

I fail to see how this organization has enabled anyone to vote more than once. With ID required, and voter roles checked and rechecked, no one can walk into a polling place not their own and vote. Mickey Mouse did not vote today in Florida. I'm sorry Republicans are po'd that they are losing, but McCain and Palin did it to you when they decided to run a negative, evil campaign that turned people off. You may not like Obama, but he has shown himself to be a man who can control his temper, get his points across without bashing the other guy, and who sounds Presidential instead of like the schoolyard bullies shaking his and her fists at the little kids.

By: Melodie

Melodie — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:26:29 +0000

I'm not Catholic, but I've donated to several of Catholic Charities' relief projects because they do a good job. You can't downplay the importance of getting disenfranchised people involved in the Democratic process. ACORN, however, didn't police itself properly and Catholic Charities is right to pull back. Catholic Charities' donors come from varying political beliefs and Catholic Charities needs to be fiscally responsible on their behalf. Also, to retain their tax-exempt status, churches aren't supposed to participate in the political process (although we all know it's done). I hope that if ACORN proves that the infractions were isolated incidents, and gets a plan in place to ensure that "Mickey Mouse" and other famous characters never again get registered as voters, the nonprofit might qualify for the support of Catholic Charities down the road.

By: Schneider (I) - CA

Schneider (I) - CA — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:26:24 +0000

The ignorance of some of these comments is blinding! First off, registration fraud was committed AGAINST ACORN, not by them! Secondly, it was ACORN themselves that noted the fraudulent registrations. Thirdly, ACORN does not endorse any political candidates. They may work in lower-income, urban settings which tend to vote a particular way, but the organization as a whole is bi-partisan which is why the Church has been allowed to donate for over a decade. As for the generally loony comments, this country will not turn socialist. Stop listening to Hannity and Limbaugh. Use your brain. Taxes for 95% of WORKING Americans will go DOWN under Obama. And for the rest, their tax rate will just revert back to the level pre-Bush. if you remember that was Clinton. And if I recall correctly, those making $250,000 or more, did just fine under the GOP's public enemy #1. Obama is a capitalist. He supports big businesses, the coal industry, small businesses, the banking industry etc. Most progressives find him to be too corporatist! So before you pin every single ailment on him, give him an honest chance. You may have to ween yourself off of Fox News for a week or so, but you just might find a whole new world out there.

By: v

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:24:42 +0000

Ben, 6 out of those 8 years our economy grew steadily. Don't believe brainwashing media, check the statistics. Our unemployemnt rate was 4.5 – 5%, we grew @ the rate of 3% per year... And the last two comparatively bad years somehow coinsided with Democrats-ran Congress. Accident? How about 9% job approval – that's unheard of. Compare this with Palin's numbers and don't blame Bush. Soon you'll see "redistribution of wealth", taxes rising for everybody, money leaving the country, loss of jobs, huge unemployment rates – all that Canada and Western Europe have already for years. All their economic growth happens when our economy is OK. When we turn from the nation of entrepreneurs to the nation of 9 to 5 employees – as Europe did – we will stop existing as the superpower.

By: phoenix

phoenix — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:24:09 +0000

Ah ACORN, the incredibly shrinking story, the incredible shrinking controversy. When will the conservatives stop thugging people away from the polls? Only when they can convince the rest of us there's a problem with "voter fraud." What do they do when there's no problem? Easy! Make one up!

By: independent for Obama

independent for Obama — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:23:54 +0000

The Catholic Church can't afford to help ACORN anymore. They have to payout settlements to people who have been molested by priest. And yes I am Catholic.

By: than

than — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:23:29 +0000

Here's how voter registration drives work. Organizations obtain names and addresses of new voters often paying workers for the number of new registrations they produce. The organizations are required by law to then turn over ALL registration forms to the state regardless of their accuracy. The reason they have to turn in ALL forms is so that they can't choose to exclude people they don't think share their views (e.g. if a Democratic group has a number of registrations where the persons identified themselves as Republicans they can't throw them out and vice-versa.) It is the responsibility of the state to verify the accuracy and that's when names like Mickey Mouse get pulled out of the pile. Handing in a form in Nevada with Tony Romo on it isn't Voter Fraud unless and until someone shows up and actually attempts to vote under that name. If anything ACORN got ripped off by paying workers for bogus names.

By: nitro

nitro — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:22:15 +0000

You would have plenty of money if you stop covering up the Priest having sex with little boys.

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:21:50 +0000

Does anyone realize that the fake registrations wouldn't have DONE anything...that is, unless you think the Dallas Cowboys were going to go vote in Nevada.

It was lazy employees trying to meet a quota. ACORN is not a sinister, fradulent organization tied to a single candidate. It is an organization that had poor employees.

By: lori from pa

lori from pa — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:21:43 +0000

Good ! I think that's good judgment. Acorn definetely needs to be investigated.

By: wondering

wondering — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:19:03 +0000

I am wondering...if people believe the GOP has "run our economy into the dirt" – have they really considered Obama's theory of wealth redistribution? Who do they think the wealth will come from and who will it go to???
Please don't tell me it will only be from those with "lots of money". It will be from all of us – but, then, perhaps many of you are the ones who feel you deserve money someone else has earned.
What is next...reparations?

By: Carlo

Carlo — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:17:57 +0000

I'm cathloic and pro-obama, but if this group really is found to be that corrupt then I feel it's appropriate for the church to cut off funding. The church it's self simply can not involve it's self with any organization that would engage in corrupt tactics to the end of trying to some how rig an election. Now, putting things into perspective:

1). illegal registrations may or may not be the fault of ACORN as an orginization. It's well known that many individual employee's took it upon them selves to cheat in order to ensure either continued employment or to get more money from the orginization.

2). illlegal registrations are a far cry from rigging an election or allowing illegal votes to be cast. Mickey Mouse won't be allowed to vote any where, and I doubt the Dallas Cowboys would be allowed to vote in nevada.

Now addressing certain specific comments.

Anonymous 4:53pm – Our nation already has gone socialist, you can thank George W Bush for that, as well as both John McCain and Barack Obama for supporting the persidents initative to buy stakes into banks nation wide

The Prophete 4:55 – It's impossible to say which candidate is winning or losing at this point, but as of this AM Obama was up by 7pts.

By: jake

jake — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:17:36 +0000

The diversity of all the responses illustrates that more than half of the responders are uneducated and do not know who or what to blame or what the problem is. One of them thinks martial law is Marshall law, GO FIGURE.

By: Spread the wealth

Spread the wealth — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:17:28 +0000

The Dem's will have gained all the power with the president and a majority in both the house and senate. Now we are on the verge of the great new world order. Tax the rich and give to the poor. From everyone according to their ability given to everyone according to their need. I can't wait to see those fat rich suckers shriek when we jack their 401k and other benefits with a 35%+ tax. The great socialist revolution has begun! Obama will change the corruption inherent in the system and allow those who have nothing to take their fair share. He will force the rich to work for the benefit of the poor. Sacrifice is the call…whether you like it or not. The Catholic Church is running in fear. They know. Time for them and their great wealth to share the burden.
I'm glad ACORN milked them for cash and now it will be their undoing.

By: helen

helen — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:17:23 +0000

For all those that wonder what the big deal is, it's that there should be no voter registration fraud. If there is, each of the fraudulent votes negate the votes of law abiding citizens.
Additionally, ACORN receiving public aid is dependent upon it being an unbiased organization. If you can readily find videos on the web of ACORN head honchos saying, "let's make sure Obama is elected" then it is no longer an unbiased organization, and the same would be true for if they were solely trying to get a Republican elected.
We should be trying for zero voter fraud tolerance, and that means, gasp, not getting upset when the polling places expect you to have an ID with you.

By: John M.

John M. — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:17:01 +0000

Looming socialism? Only Mosques will be tax exempt? Wow. Really? You people are so full of hate that you are making no sense, and just flailing like the intolerant, ignorant reactionaries you are. I cannot wait for Obama to be president and put an end to 8 years of your type of small, pathetic mindset ruling our country and bullying the world. Just like Islamic fundamentalists, you should really crawl back into your caves and mind your business while adults work on the tough decisions.