ACORN Fires Back, Claims McCain Ignored Impending Crisis

At this point, any half-aware voter knows that ACORN doesn't refer to "a single-seeded, thick-walled nut" (as per the American Heritage dictionary).

And the McCain campaign is making sure of that by repeatedly amping up the rhetoric linking the group, currently being investigated by the FBI, to Barack Obama.

(Despite McCain's own past support for the group, as evidenced by his attendance at an ACORN-hosted rally in 2006.)

Today, campaign mananger Rick Davis issued a statement demanding that Obama cooperate with the FBI investigation. And in last night's debate, McCain accused ACORN of "maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."

Today, the group fired back by releasing a report, "ACORN vs. McCain: The Real Story of the Financial Crisis 1999 to 2008," attacking McCain for his lack of warnings about the impending subprime mortgage crisis last year.

Austin King, the director of the ACORN Financial Justice Center, writes:

In casting blame on ACORN, Senator McCain demonstrated a true misunderstanding of the cause of the financial crisis and in so doing belied the notion that he is qualified to solve it. Indeed, in looking at the totality of their work, the only available conclusion is that ACORN fought with all its might for a decade to prevent this crisis while Senator McCain sat on the sidelines and cheered on the deregulation of the financial services industry that paved the way for the nation's economic collapse.

King concludes:

Given the dearth of Senator McCain's words and actions on the predatory lending problem and the resulting foreclosure crisis, there are only a few occasions in which his actions and foresight in the leading up to this crisis can be judged. In each and every one of those instances, Senator McCain stuck to his professed economic philosophy of deregulation. Although in recent weeks his economic philosophy has appeared more erratic and he has occasionally adopted a populist tone, his long tenure in the Senate has been defined by a consistent hostility toward government regulation and favoritism shown toward deregulation...

Comparing the records of both ACORN and Senator John McCain, the only
available conclusion is that in the decade leading up to the financial crisis America faces
today, ACORN fought with all its might against the predatory lending practices and resulting
foreclosures that triggered the crisis, while Senator McCain took no actions to stem the crisis
while voting for deregulation.

Comments

[HappinessHacker]

ACORN and the Obama Campaign are the real victims here!!!

The ACORN incident was very easy to create... all you have to do is pay or place people to create bogus voter registration forms, it's a classic case of well known Republican dirty tricks ops.

Why doesn't the FBI look into this? Guess they are handcuffed politically.

Happiness Hacker - Atlanta

[flipper314]

Can someone please tell CNN that Mickey Mouse and Darth Vader will not show up to the voting booth. I don't think the deceased people will be there either. This is a distraction of epic proportions and people need to understand there is a difference between voter registration fraud and actual voter fraud. They need to quit giving right wing hacks a platform to try and scare the American people that their democracy is really at risk.

If they really want to be scared maybe CNN and all other news media orginizations should be looking at the actual voters that have been dropped off the rolls for no reason in many key states. I wonder if the one million people that show up and have been deemed either deceased, a criminal, a different ethnicity , or a Democrat will feel about democracy on that day and wonder why ACORN's story got any face time and not the real issue of voter fraud. Hopefully videothevote.org will actually work this time since we are a youth filled society obsessed with youtube.

[PT6]

You are SO RIGHT!

This is a "BIG RED HERRING" by the Republicans to prevent low income people from voting for Obama!

We can not let 2000 in Florida and 2004 in Ohio HAPPEN AGAIN!

[mjtaylor22]

When we see Obama, or mention his name, the eyes of my Kids light up like never before.
That to me speaks of a goodness that resonates. Fromthe mouths of babes comes the real truth.
I mean wow, inspiration to all age groups, he wants everyone included, I mean this si why people are on this train of hope for the future.
God Bless America

[mjtaylor22]

Dang i did not know all the good stuff ACORN does. They slapped mccain and his do nothing self.
he is the De Regulation Cheerleader and His potential Treasury Secretary is the original Regulation Terminator
Phil Gramm.
Ck the Gramm Leach Bailey Act
also the Commodities Futures Modernization Act
to see the beginings of the un raveling of our regulatory structure that had protected citizens since the Great Depression.

[zanbama]

Hey, I need to donate to ACORN!

[zanbama]

Just donated $20.00. Also signed Demand to End Smears petition. I couldn't believe some of the comments on there from anonymous people.

[Spesabsquemetu]

It is refreshing to HEAR ACORN stand up for the integrity of their work, their mission, and the dedication of all its members who work tirelessly to build a stronger society in America.

Their response is what all of us need to do in standing up against malfeasance in our midst, and raising TRUTH in response to these perverted allegations of false accusations being made by McCain, and Mr. Davis.

[PT6]

We must not ALLOW the REPUBLICANS to PULL 200,000 votes out of OHIO!

We can not ALLOW another 2004!

Acorn tries to register lower income voters and because of a "SLIM" budget hires lower income workers! A very small percentage of these workers do not understand how important being "right" is when registering voters. A minor percentage of voter registrations appear to be in question.

I could not find any website that mentions the % of invalid registered voters so it is probably very small.

The fact it is a small percentage does not matter to Repubs who play this in four ways:

1. Prevent valid low income registered voters from voting.
2. A campaign issue which tries to play the "race card" again.
3. Deflect from 2000 Florida and 2004 Ohio that many believe were manipulated by Republicans.
4. To explain why McCain lost as he clearly is doing.

We must keep up our guard and make sure all valid registered voters are able to exercise their rights.

We must make sure computer hackers are not allowed to manipulate the tallies (two numbers) by doing one minute printouts of the tallies in each state so auditing is easier.

We must raise the issue of voter fraud by Republicans!

[camipco]

The other thing that's important to note is that the reason anyone knows about these fake registrations is that ACORN employees noticed them and brought them to the attention of the authorities. The investigation was instigated by ACORN.

"Maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy" is the biggest and most disgusting lie McCain has told in this whole campaign. There is no voter fraud, just voter registration fraud. Mickey Mouse is not going to walk into a polling place in Florida and vote for Obama. The fraud was committed AGAINST ACORN by a few rogue employees. ACORN wants real registrations. This fake registration fraud hurts Obama, it doesn't help him.

[Spesabsquemetu]

Excellent point, Camipco, which appears to be consistently ignored in the discussion, much like certain media outlets, for some unnamed reason, avoiding any discussion over WHO Sen. Obama draws advice from, which he mentioned during his final debate.

Instead, we hear a good deal of the re-hash, about the false innuendo by McCain aimed at Sen. Obama regarding a former charity board member, but barely anything about WHO Sen. Obama TRULY PALS AROUND WITH, and WHO OBAMA connects with regarding policy advisement.

In the same vein, we hear much re-hashing about ACORN, and false allegations with slanderous claims being made by McCain in the garbage disposal attacks he continues to use in falsely accusing Sen. Obama.

But what we barely hear is information being reported that would INFORM US...

- INFORM US - as to WHO Sen. Obama DOES DRAW his guidance from ( Buffet, Hagel, et.al)
- INFORM US - that it was ACORN that drew attention to this matter, thereby discrediting the malfeasance being fanned by the McCain campaign to draw perverted distortions about ACORN and about Sen. Obama.

Sadly, there sometimes appears to be a willful attempt to keep the public dummed down, otherwise, there are some sub-standard producers out there, who are failing in their duties at several media outlets, and for several telecasts of the "news".

[bob8788]

Folks Obama is just a dream right now, lets make him a reality in november , PLEASE COME OUT AND VOTE, COME OUT AND VOTE

http://barackobamacans.blogspot.com/

[Diogenis]

Want some incentive? McCAIN IS A NIGHTMARE !

OBAMA/BIDEN 08

[mageduley]

Want even more incentive? Watch the nightmare:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdJUCU1UH2w

Please share. No one would vote for McCain after watching it.

[kotipup]

I was raised by Republicans, and - before Obama - I'd never contributed to a political campaign. That has changed. Now I'm about to, for the first time, donate to a civic organization: ACORN. They need it to defend themselves and to keep up the good work they are doing, only a small part of which includes voter registration.

It is absurd that Republicans are calling ACORN a radical organization, or implying that they are criminal. What is wrong with trying to represent an underrepresented segment of our society (the poor)? While ACORN has made mistakes in documentation and have been too trusting of the people getting paid to hand in voter registrations, there are checks and balances on the state level to make sure people do not vote more than once. There is no voter fraud here. Noone is going to count "Mickey Mouse"'s vote.

[evgolightly]

I know. The whole matter is a total non-issue.

It's insulting that these corrupt, greedy, power-hungry jerks would try to blame ACORN for the entire global economic crisis.

Blame our crumbling public schools on lower girl scout cookie sales while you're scapegoating, McCain.

[bakingmom]

As a lifelong dem who proudly supported Bill, I can tell you that Hill would NOT have had an easy go. There is faaaaaar tooooooo much "dirt" that accompanies the Clintons and it would, eventually with all the negative innuendos, have sunk her (them). Even I, with my ardent Clinton love-fest, was very uncomfortable with a Hill plus Bill ticket. It just seemed wrong b/c Hill would never have been where she is without Bill and Bill is part of every Hill package deal.

That said, I truly love Obama. His intellect, his compassion, his worldliness, his beautiful wife ~ all are testimony to what this world can be. Not what it once was.

I am a white, suburban married mother of three. My children know that I want a role model for them in the WH. Obama is that role model.

[Glenn1441]

That's lovely, bakingmom. I've never felt 'good' about a presidential candidate before. Obama's is the first campaign I've donated to. His strengths far outweigh his shortcomings, and simply put, he has inspired several generations among us. That's say something.

Good for you :>)

[Jezreel]

Good for ACORN. Keep up the good work.

[Jezreel]

PTA: "And the McCain campaign is making sure of that by repeatedly amping up the rhetoric linking the group, currently being investigated by the FBI, to Barack Obama."
The author restates a factual error first reported by the AP and then pushed by CNN's Drew Griffith and the McCain campaign.
Per CNN: "CNN has been unable to confirm a report by the Associated Press that the FBI is investigating whether ACORN helped foster voter registration fraud across the country as the presidential election approaches. Instead, several government sources have told CNN that the FBI and the Justice Department are reviewing documents provided by state investigations into ACORN to determine whether there is a basis to open a federal criminal investigat­ion....The­se developments at the federal level come nearly a week after six Republicans in the House of Representatives sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey requesting a federal investigation into ACORN’s voter registration activities­."
Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/16/mccain-camp-to-obama-release-more-information-about-acorn/

[mdmpo]

Good for ACORN for putting this out there, although I'm sure the MSM will ignore it. The Repubs are putting them through the wringer.

[wanked]

After what happened to poor voters of color in the last two elections,­...the methods and means of disenfranchising so many US citizens of their right to vote... I find it insulting and truly UNBELIEVABLE that these dirty accusations are being brought against a community organization like ACORN. The HYPOCRACY in this country is astounding

[vernbvb]

Nothing but a smokescreen and when the GOP uses all its tactics to steal another election, they will blame it on ACORN's voter registration fraud. And the media, who already know that that is impossible, will go along with it while ignoring any purging of voters and voters disenfranchised in any other way. The voting machines and discouraging long lines will be other real factors in what will be the worst electoral fraud in this country's history. Many voters think it is not possible for the election to be stolen but get ready for a strange ride everyone. There is just not enough time to do the type of education that is needed to help prevent electoral fraud. Just think about a long ballot for instance and someone who gets frustrated trying to use a voting machine. Every screen has to be completed. Same thing with paper ballots. I have seen elections where a politician lost because voters wrote in and voted straight ticket at the same time. No one explained to them that write ins wouldnt be counted on straight tickets. Those ballots were not counted. So I urge everyone to encourage everyone you know to be patient when they go to vote and ask questions when they need to. Follow through no matter what happens at the polling place. Make sure your vote counts. (as much as you can). Complain when you encounter problems. But most of all, please vote early.

[izAriver]

Another made up crisis, ala faux news and the like. I hope lee atwater is burning because he's the one who really made this a reality.