ACORN and the corruption of the census

The census bureau is now headed from the White House. The importance this bureau is that it represents the mother lode of all information gathering. The current administration has given this enormous, daunting task to the tattered group ACORN. The group from now on will be known as Community Organizations International. To anyone familiar with the aggressive and allegedly criminal tactics of the nonprofit empire, this looks like old wine in a new bottle, especially as a name change by ACORN itself appears imminent.

The amount of information obtained has grown to be more invasive of a personal nature. It was reported today that the group will be asking for your phone number as well as many other added questions. Failure to comply with the group can lead to a fine of $5000. It was also reported that they will make follow up calls for the omitted or denied information, they will call up to six times. If this is unsuccessful they will speak to neighbors on both sides of your residence.

During World War 2, the census bureau obtained personal information of all American citizens. This information was turned over to the FBI. In turn, the FBI rounded up American Japanese citizens and placed them in camps.

We as citizens should ask why the White House wants control of the census… Or why do they have control over it. After all, Barry was ACORN’s attorney. Why would he give this group so much power over information? Well, I cannot wait until they knock on my door....

From the National League and Policy Center:

Wade Rathke, as Union Corruption Update has reported several times, a year ago was forced out of his leadership role at ACORN, which he founded back in 1970. Rathke, by all appearances, had concealed the unauthorized and likely illegal transfers by his brother, ACORN chief financial officer Dale Rathke, of nearly $950,000 in ACORN funds during 1999-2000 to a political outfit, Citizens Consulting Inc. (CCI). The movement of cash was more than coincidental. Both groups are headquartered in New Orleans. Moreover, tax records reveal that the consulting group has ties to several ACORN affiliates. ACORN prides itself on its aggressive and at times violent public demonstrations. Embezzlement, however, seemed to be something new. It was embarrassing. Rathke managed to remain at the helm of its international affiliate. The Rathke family and Tides Foundation founder Drummond Pike subsequently paid off the debt.

ACORN in the meantime is busy being ACORN. The group recently threatened to slap Reid and seven other internal whistleblowers with a civil suit in an effort to silence them. In a letter dated June 11, an attorney for ACORN threatened these persons, who include two former board members, collectively known as "ACORN 8." The dissenters' unauthorized use of the organization's name, the letter read, could make them liable for monetary damages and injunctive relief. The dissenters are hanging in there, however. And they're saying it's going to take more than a name change to clean things up. "ACORN has to be decapitated," says Reid. "The senior staff and current national board should be dismantled. The only way to have reform is for the current leadership to be removed completely. We also need a forensic audit." It was in fact a lawsuit filed by Reid and fellow former board member Karen Inman last October seeking financial accountability that led to their dismissal, a move they say was illegal. The pair joined forces with six other colleagues to form ACORN 8. Reid added that his group's use of the name ACORN is no trademark infringement. "We are not going to be silenced," he remarked.

From Fox News:

The U.S. Census is supposed to be free of politics, but one group with a history of voter fraud, ACORN, is participating in next year's count, raising concerns about the politicization of the decennial survey.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now signed on as a national partner with the U.S. Census Bureau in February 2009 to assist with the recruitment of the 1.4 million temporary workers needed to go door-to-door to count every person in the United States -- currently believed to be more than 306 million people.

A U.S. Census "sell sheet," an advertisement used to recruit national partners, says partnerships with groups like ACORN "play an important role in making the 2010 Census successful," including by "help[ing] recruit census workers."
The bureau is currently employing help from more than 250 national partners, including TARGET and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), to assist in the hiring effort.

But ACORN's partnership with the 2010 Census is worrisome to lawmakers who say past allegations of fraud should raise concerns about the organization.

"It's a concern, especially when you look at all the different charges of voter fraud. And it's not just the lawmakers' concern. It should be the concern of every citizen in the country," Rep. Lynn A. Westmoreland, R-Ga., vice ranking member of the subcommittee for the U.S. Census, told FOXNews.com. "We want an enumeration. We don't want to have any false numbers."
ACORN, which claims to be a non-partisan grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people, came under fire in 2007 when Washington State filed felony charges against several paid ACORN employees and supervisors for more than 1,700 fraudulent voter registrations. In March 2008, an ACORN worker in Pennsylvania was sentenced for making 29 phony voter registration forms. The group's activities were frequently questioned in the 2008 presidential election.