EXCLUSIVE: Minn. lawmaker vows not to complete Census

By Stephen Dinan | Wednesday, June 17, 2009


EXCLUSIVE:

Outspoken Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann says she's so worried that information from next year's national census will be abused that she will refuse to fill out anything more than the number of people in her household.

In an interview Wednesday morning with The Washington Times "America's Morning News," Mrs. Bachmann, Minnesota Republican, said the questions have become "very intricate, very personal" and she also fears ACORN, the community organizing group that came under fire for its voter registration efforts last year, will be part of the Census Bureau's door-to-door information collection efforts.

"I know for my family the only question we will be answering is how many people are in our home," she said. "We won't be answering any information beyond that, because the Constitution doesn't require any information beyond that."

Shelly Lowe, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Census Bureau, said Mrs. Bachmann is "misreading" the law.

The Washington Times America's Morning News (interview with Rep. Michele Bachmann)

She sent a portion of the U.S. legal code that says anyone over 18 years of age who refuses to answer "any of the questions" on the census can be fined up to $5,000.

The Constitution requires a census be taken every 10 years. Questions range from number of persons in the household and racial information to employment status and whether anyone receives social services such as food stamps.

Mrs. Bachmann said she's worried about the involvement of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now, in next year's census.

Why would she worry about ACORN?? another fear factor?~ from the Republicans?

this reason.
_______________________________________________________________________
ACORN has applied to help recruit workers to help conduct the census. Republican lawmakers and some public interest groups have expressed concern over their involvement.

ACORN staffers have ben indicted in several states on charges of voter registration fraud stemming from the organization's efforts to register voters last year.
___________________________________________________________________
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/17/exclusive-minn-lawmaker-fears-census-abuse/

ahh I thought that had all been cleared up with Acorn that there wasn't anything to it, just republicans calling for investigations~ I will look it up~and the link you gave

one article I found>>....................................................................there are many more


From ACORN, a mighty GOP fight

By MICHAEL FALCONE | 5/9/09 6:45 AM EDT


Demonstrators appear at a rally hosted by ACORN
ACORN continues to find itself in legal jeopardy and the GOP continues to obsess about it. Photo: Reuters

It’s almost as if the 2008 presidential campaign never ended: The community organizing group known as ACORN continues to find itself in legal jeopardy and the Republican Party continues to spend an inordinate amount of time obsessing about it.

Six months after an election where the controversial liberal group became a partisan lightning rod, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now remains a prominent GOP target, a subject of intense, feverish pursuit seemingly out of proportion with the return on political investment.

Consider the past week alone.

In the House, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) and other GOP lawmakers called on the Census Bureau to sever ties with ACORN, one of several hundred organizations teaming up with the bureau to conduct the crucial Census count in 2010.

At the same time, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), one of ACORN’s most vocal opponents in Congress, tangled with Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) over an “ACORN amendment” she introduced that would have prohibited any organization indicted for voter fraud from receiving certain federal housing grants.

In the Senate, Republican David Vitter of Louisiana introduced his own amendment that sought to prohibit ACORN from receiving federal volunteer funds through the National Service Act. The Senate rejected it on Thursday.

Outside the legislative arena, Republicans also zeroed in on ACORN.

The Republican National Committee splashed on its home page a story about voter registration charges filed against ACORN in Nevada. The Florida GOP produced a YouTube video aimed at freshman Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson that shows a member of Grayson’s staff calling him the “congressman from ACORN.”

On Friday, Americans for Limited Government, a conservative group, targeted several vulnerable Democratic freshmen by issuing individualized press releases slamming them for voting to fund “criminal enterprise ACORN.”

The list goes on and on.

At the heart of the GOP’s grievance is the belief that ACORN is a shady liberal front group that regularly engages in fraudulent voter registration activity or outright voter fraud. John McCain suggested as much in one of his debates with Barack Obama when he referred to ACORN by name and accused Obama of not fully explaining his association with the group.

“This could violate the most fundamental aspect of democracy and that is a free and fair election,” McCain said at the debate last October.

Indeed, ACORN has continually run afoul of the law in recent years. Most recently, in Nevada, law enforcement officials charged the group with voter registration fraud on Monday, accusing ACORN of illegally setting quotas for its canvassers and paying employees bonuses for signing up more than 21 new voters per day.

And in Pennsylvania on Thursday, authorities charged seven ACORN workers with falsifying voter registration forms – six of those employees face felony counts.

ACORN officials insist that these were isolated incidents that run contrary to the group’s stated policy prohibiting registration quotas and the completion of fraudulent forms. But last year the group gained unwanted attention as reports of registration irregularities began cropping up in several battleground states and after local elections officials complained of being inundated with new voter registration forms, many of which turned out to be either duplicates or false. ACORN officials were quick to point out then – as they do now – that voter registration fraud rarely leads to voter fraud.

But ACORN’s past problems and its new partnership with the Census Bureau has given Republicans more than enough reason to pounce. During the debate over the government stimulus package, GOP lawmakers complained bitterly that federal funds for “neighborhood stabilization activities” and other programs could flow to ACORN. At the time, ACORN’s CEO, Bertha Lewis, denied that her group would be eligible to receive such funds
*

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22282.html#ixzz0Iuniapso&C

ACORN staffers have ben indicted in several states on charges of voter registration fraud stemming from the organization's efforts to register voters last year.

this is now, and the law involved, and not any repbulicans, u know acorn is a wild card mess, but its not new, ppl are indicted as this article states, same one as above url,

your article above just makes my point, but im gone , grass is growing as i speak, lol

And in Pennsylvania on Thursday, authorities charged seven ACORN workers with falsifying voter registration forms – six of those employees face felony counts.

yes but as the case it seems that does not lead to voter fraud, as stated in the article I just put, voter registration fraud has always been around like the one Florida ,ohio during the first/second election of Bush,I think i am right,and other presidents..

an old one>> republicans again

http://www.seeingtheforest.com/archives/2008/10/why_are_republi.htm

ctober 10, 2008
WHY Are Republicans Accusing ACORN Of Voter Fraud?

-- by Dave Johnson

The Republican noise machine is going absolutely full-force after ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), accusing them of committing vote fraud on a massive scale. You can't turn on the radio or TV without hearing that millions of illegal votes will be cast for Obama because of ACORN's massive vote fraud. If you Google "Acorn" and "rigging" you get over 50,000 hits.

The Republican National Committee website is headlining the effort. And they are issuing accusation press releases all day, every day, to drive this effort. They have a "fact sheet" listing numerous accusations.

Here's the thing: ACORN is registering voters and is REQUIRED BY LAW to submit voter reg forms as the voter fills them out. Even so, the total "fraudulent" registrations they are accused of submitting nationwide is very low, maybe a few thousand. This is across the entire country when they have registered more than 1.3 million new voters. And this is all about registration forms that are filled out wrong by the voter, not ACORN, or a voter submitting more than one registration. This is what all the noise is about.

This is the key thing to know: None of these faulty registrations are capable of resulting in a single fraudulent vote. The problem is ACORN workers turning in forms that were filled out wrong, in some cases by the workers themselves to make it look like they were working when they weren't. But vote fraud? The most common problems is duplication but if someone fills out 12 registrations, they're still only goign to vote once. It is up to county election officials, not ACORN to worry about election fraud. And on a call today with ACORN they pointed out that while there are bad registration forms submitted, there is not one case of a person commiting actual vote fraud as a result of ACORN's efforts. Not one, ever, anywhere.

So the question is, why? Why the huge hissy fit over ACORN?

Remember the Seeing the Forest Rule: When Republicans accuse, it is because it is what they are doing themselves.

Working on the Election Protection Wiki I am seeing more and more accusations of a massive nationwide effort to throw millions of voters off of the registration lists, and otherwise keep them from voting. One example accusation: states like Florida are purging voters whose names do not exactly match their Social Security or drivers license, so "Bob" on one and "Robert" on another disqualifies them from voting. Another, across the country the Republicans are accused of mailing faulty absentee voter applications to Democrats -- they have incorrect addresses for sending the application, or when they can send them in they are thrown out for various reasons to do with the forms. Another: across the country students are being told they can't vote. These are just a few examples -- you may have heard that some states are even throwing people off voter registration roles if their homes are foreclosed.

Could THIS be why there are so many accusations against ACORN? To provide cover for the REAL voting scam that is going on?

Among the accusations is that they have "employed convicts to register people." That sure SOUNDS bad, but so what? Also among the crimes they are accused of is submitting duplicate registrations for voters. Here is the thing to keep in mind, when a duplicate registration is submitted, the person is registered once and the duplicates are thrown out. Again, so what?

ACORN is an organization that helps poor and minority communities. One thing ACORN does is organize people to vote. They have submitted over 1.3 million new voter registrations this year. From their website,

ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, working together for social justice and stronger communities.

This sounds exactly like something Repubicans would hate. A lot.

Democrats Continue to Protect ACORN
by Rep. Steve King (more by this author)
Posted 06/19/2009 ET
Updated 06/19/2009 ET
www.humanevents.com

Abraham Lincoln once remarked that “nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” This week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her liberal colleagues demonstrated once again that in matters where power may conflict with principle, these liberals will put power first every time.

On Monday, I introduced two amendments to H.R. 2847, the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Bill. One amendment would have kept the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) out of the 2010 Census, effectively barring taxpayer dollars in the bill provided to the Census Bureau from being disbursed to ACORN. The other amendment would have barred any taxpayer dollars in the bill from being provided to ACORN.

I believe these amendments are of extreme importance to the integrity of the American electoral system. Until last fall, most Americans had never heard of ACORN, but this relatively obscure community organizing group emerged on the national scene in 2008 after registering scores of new voters for Barack Obama and producing more than 400,000 fraudulent voter registration forms nationwide.

ACORN is currently under investigation in 14 states for voter fraud and has frequently paid employees on a commission basis to register voters, a practice illegal in many states. According to an October 2008 article in The Economist, during the last election cycle, “in Orlando, home to the Magic Kingdom of Disney, Mickey Mouse tried to register. In Indiana there was an application from a sandwich shop called Jimmy Johns. Authorities in Nevada were surprised to receive voter registration forms from the starting line-up of the Dallas Cowboys.”

All of these fraudulent registrations were later traced back to ACORN. Any reasonable person would conclude that false registration forms almost inevitably lead to fraudulent voting, a felony charge. Because voter fraud is a crime nearly impossible to investigate and prosecute, there is no telling how many fraudulent votes have been cast across America because of ACORN’s illegal activities.

ACORN and its estimated 270 corporate affiliates comprise a complex organizational and financial spiderweb with all the appearance of a criminal enterprise. ACORN is facing charges of voter fraud and tax violations, yet it has received over $53 million in taxpayer funds.

Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and his liberal friends have opened the taxpayers’ wallet to as much as an additional $8.5 billion that could be accessed by ACORN. The interlocking financial connections between ACORN and its affiliate organizations are ripe with waste, fraud and abuse, yet ACORN has never been investigated because it is protected by its cronies in Congress.

President Obama, a former ACORN employee, has hired ACORN to “partner” with the Census Bureau to complete the 2010 census. Justice demands that Congress cut off ACORN’s access to taxpayer dollars and put an immediate end to ACORN’s involvement in the 2010 census, but Democrats refuse to allow a vote, let alone cut off ACORN’s access to the taxpayer funds.

Late Monday night, Speaker Pelosi used a procedural tactic to pass a gag rule, blocking the amendments I introduced. Pelosi shut off the ability of Republicans to offer amendments. Pelosi would rather silence the minority than have actual debate on issues like ACORN’s involvement in the upcoming census or corrupt spending.

The hypocrisy of Pelosi’s actions is glaring. In June 2006, then-minority leader Pelosi unveiled a plan entitled “A New Direction for America.” Language in the plan explicitly stated that “Every person in America has a right to have his or her voice heard. No Member of Congress should be silenced on the Floor.” Another direct quote from her plan: “Bills should generally come to the Floor under a procedure that allows open, full, and fair debate consisting of a full amendment process that grants the Minority the right to offer its alternatives.”

This Pelosi Congress is violating its 2006 commitments to the American people so it can protect ACORN and suppress the voice of the minority party. Shielding ACORN from oversight ensures that this liberal get-out-the-vote machine will continue its shady practices.

It is time for every member of this Congress to go on record in support of or opposition to ACORN. ACORN is corroding the integrity of our electoral process by attacking the sanctity of the ballot box and using taxpayer dollars to do so, and Nancy Pelosi and Democrats on Capitol Hill are complicit in ACORN’s cover-up. America cannot allow the same group that produced more than 400,000 fraudulent voter registration forms to run the 2010 census.

Rep. King was elected to Iowa's 5th District in 2002. He sits on the House Judiciary Committee and its Constitution and Immigration subcommittees.

Remember the Seeing the Forest Rule: When Republicans accuse, it is because it is what they are doing themselves.

Interesting comment in your post, now I understand what type of material you have posted.

Gypsy try to post something more relevant than something dated October 10, 2008 read ur post, dont blame republicans , other interest groups are against them doing census work also.

again i post this, date a month ago 5/9/09
And in Pennsylvania on Thursday, authorities charged seven ACORN workers with falsifying voter registration forms – six of those employees face felony counts.

so we want these ppl taking census,

what I posted is something that needs to be recognized.. That old post explains what is
for real, if you will read close, Voter registration, is not voter fraud no one can vote more than once.. the article is valid,for then and now .
remember they are workers not valid reprensentives of ACORN>but more supervision should apply .. why not?

so if all is so jolly in acorn land why is this statement true,
again i post this, date a month ago 5/9/09
And in Pennsylvania on Thursday, authorities charged seven ACORN workers with falsifying voter registration forms – six of those employees face felony counts.

six count them SIX face felony counts, in Pennsylvania, sounds like ur saying voter registration fraud is ok , just as long as its not voter fraud, ,,, always remember 2 wrongs dont make a right, lets count the ways, falsifying voter registration, well maybe they had a felony.and it was covered up. or maybe they were not real citizens but acorn fixed that, on a reg, form . just because one person one vote , not all the ppl they signed maybe were allowed to vote, but i imagine in some court room the truth will come out, we shall see,they dont hand out felony charges even when obama is in office for no reason.,, FELONY big word huh???

no it is not ok neither of them. nothing fraudulent is ok,
What I am stating, is these workers who were hired are the ones that committed the fraud, not actually ACORN or the executives~ the ones hired off the street and as i also stated no way could someone votemore than once. all those registrations that were false were kicked out my article also states that~
I agree the investigation should be done, but looks like the Republicans are again obsessed with this. I also agree with it will all come out.

And in Pennsylvania on Thursday, authorities charged seven ACORN workers with falsifying voter registration forms – six of those employees face felony counts.
MAYBE acorn should hire more honest ppl, not the ppl i saw on tv , the black kid with pants hanging down to his knees, or either change there rules, but i imagine , if these 6 with felony charges go to court , we will see, i stop the post from my end unless its in current new, i will not hunt an old article, take care

Maybe it could be Republicans are more concerned with HONEST politics and not covering for a rogue concern.
The article I posted sites numerous ACORN violations, if you work for ACORN then they should be held accountable , not just turning a deaf ear to the situation , football teams, mickey mouse..and on and on..this is not a group worthy of federal funding, they should be prosecuted for fraud and sentenced accordingly. Another blackeye on the Obama administration.

rosco 357 wrote:And in Pennsylvania on Thursday, authorities charged seven ACORN workers with falsifying voter registration forms – six of those employees face felony counts.
MAYBE acorn should hire more honest ppl, not the ppl i saw on tv , the black kid with pants hanging down to his knees, or either change there rules, but i imagine , if these 6 with felony charges go to court , we will see, i stop the post from my end unless its in current new, i will not hunt an old article, take care

I agree on held accountable, and should be prosecuted,I have been reading more updated stories, I don't think it is any reflection on Obama ,this Acorn .
I don't believe Obama worked for ACORN, he did represent them legally I think.. my memory recalls.any way if the ACORN is doing anything illegal it will be know and they will be prosecuted I think they were first organzied in the late 90's

SSC wrote:Maybe it could be Republicans are more concerned with HONEST politics and not covering for a rogue concern.
The article I posted sites numerous ACORN violations, if you work for ACORN then they should be held accountable , not just turning a deaf ear to the situation , football teams, mickey mouse..and on and on..this is not a group worthy of federal funding, they should be prosecuted for fraud and sentenced accordingly. Another blackeye on the Obama administration.

I disagree with republicans more honest, if memory recalls, and an article i posted state that republican politicians were shown to be in more scandals and dishonesty than democrats, i think there is corruption in all politics` if there is one honest politician ,I haven't found them. LOL..

also i don't see where it is a black eye on Obama~

but obama eyes are already black , since he is a black man, lol

The voter fraud was disclosed early in Obama's campaign, yet nothing was done at the time about them, the Dems were benefiting from the ACORN push for voters for the Democrats so why bite the hand that is recruiting voters for them. I remember reading Obama worked for ACORN but can't remember in what capacity, I'll look that up to be sure.

Barack Obama's Involvement with ACORN Unearthed, Missing Article Recovered
http://www.clevelandleader.com
While Barack Obama's connection with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has not gone entirely unreported, it has not been fully explained. Most media background pieces simply note Obama's involvement in a 1995 lawsuit on behalf of ACORN. Obama's own website, as well as most major media, fail to reveal the full depth and extent of his relationship with the organization.

Attempts to hide evidence of Obama's involvement with ACORN have included wiping the web clean of potentially damaging articles that had appeared, and were previously publicly accessible. Unfortunately, those behind the attempted cover-up failed to realize that in today's day and age, nothing disappears forever. There also exists another layer of the web, the hidden web, which is full of information included in proprietary scholarly databases where these very same "missing" articles can be easily uncovered.

Obama's campaign website states:

Fact: Barack was never an ACORN trainer and never worked for ACORN in any other capacity.

Is that really a FACT, or just another lie? Let's take a look at a quote from a 2004 article - Case Study: Chicago- The Barack Obama Campaign - written by Toni Foulkes, a Chicago ACORN Leader, which was published in the journal Social Policy. Did we mention that Social Policy recently pulled this particular article from their website, while leaving links to all other articles up?

"Obama took the case, known as ACORN vs. Edgar (the name of the Republican governor at the time) and we won. Obama then went on to run a voter registration project with Project VOTE in 1992 that made it possible for Carol Moseley Braun to win the Senate that year. Project VOTE delivered 50,000 newly registered voters in that campaign (ACORN delivered about 5,000 of them).

Since then, we have invited Obama to our leadership training sessions to run the session on power every year, and, as a result, many of our newly developing leaders got to know him before he ever ran for office. Thus it was natural for many of us to be active volunteers in his first campaign for STate Senate and then his failed bid for U.S. Congress in 1996. By the time he ran for U.S. Senate, we were old friends."

Not only does Foulkes boast of Obama's ACORN leadership training, but also makes it clear that Obama's post-law school organizing of "Project VOTE" in 1992 was undertaken in direct partnership with ACORN. The tie between Project VOTE and ACORN is also something that Obama and others have attempted to disprove in recent weeks as ACORN has come under fire for allegations of voter registration fraud.

As recently as March 2008, the Los Angeles Times also made reference to Barack Obama's involvement with ACORN:

"At the time, Talbot worked at the social action group ACORN and initially considered Obama a competitor. But she became so impressed with his work that she invited him to help train her staff." (LA Times, March 2, 2008)

All this information was easily pulled up with minimal time investment. It took less than thirty minutes to find, despite attempts by some to bury the truth. If I could find this with little effort, imagine what could be dug up with a serious, in-depth investigation. Scary, isn't it?

Nevertheless, Barack Obama's campaign website continues to lie and deny the truth about his involvement and association with ACORN. No matter how many times you say it, it does not make it true. The facts do not lie, Senator Obama. It's time to come clean and tell the truth, and it's time for the American people to demand it.

***Update: A person who left a comment on the story below (thank you) has notified us that the Obama website has changed. We have done a follow up story that can be read following this link Here is our follow up story:
http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/7231 ***

well if it were a lie it would be investigated, so many lies about him were going, at the time and most were untrue, i don't think some persons quote is substantial to this~~ACORN involvement.and if the stuff was removed from the web, i am sure it was not fact and had no proof~ but he did get elected so that is good nough for me~

rosco 357 wrote:but obama eyes are already black , since he is a black man, lol

your right on that, unless they are brown, or amber/ whiskey colored..]

***Update: A person who left a comment on the story below (thank you) has notified us that the Obama website has changed. We have done a follow up story that can be read following this link Here is our follow up story:
http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/7231 ***SSC this is an old story from 2008,like mine was old also~~