The Supreme Court has turned down ACORN’s request for help in its lawsuit claiming Congress was wrong to shut off the activist group’s federal funding.

The high court on Friday refused to throw out a decision by the federal appellate court in New York City. That court had decided to freeze a judge’s determination that Congress acted unconstitutionally in yanking the group’s funding.

ACORN, which bills itself as an advocate for low-income and minority home buyers and residents, has drastically cut its operations since losing its funding.

Lawmakers acted after a widely circulated video showed three employees apparently advising a couple posing as a prostitute and her boyfriend to lie about her profession and launder her earnings.

Check for updates here.

Lavelle Stewart, of ACORN in South Central Los Angeles, tells us she thinks we have to hook up with “someone who’s on that international sex business level,” that “14 and 15 year olds been traveling overseas for years,” that she can do independent research for us, and that she has had meetings with Porn magnate Larry Flynt.  As for laundering the sex money into my faux political campaign, Lavelle says, “there are ways, people do it all the time.  Yeah there are ways, especially out here in California.”

Part I

Part II

Audio:

Transcript:

So, the robocalls were a mea culpa and promise that ACORN would do better in the future? Hardly. Away from the kleig lights of the national press, ACORN continued to deny wrongdoings and deflect attention to “extremists” attacking her. On the calls, ACORN even reiterates the lie that James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles were turned away in Los Angeles.

Listen for yourself (in English and Spanish):

Transcript and more after the jump.

~~

ENGLISH TRANSCRIPT:
Hello.  This is ACORN.  We’re calling to let you know that ACORN has continued to fight hard against foreclosures, for affordable healthcare, and now, to beat back the extremist attacks against our members, an organization you have seen on the news this week.  Los Angeles ACORN successfully turned away the two right-wing activists who secretly videotaped a handful of ACORN employees and stopped their attempts to discredit the good will of ACORN here in Los Angeles.  Thank you for your continued support.  Always remember that the people united will never be defeated.  Should you have any questions or would like to find out how you can be more involved, please call the L.A. office at 213 747 4211 extension 215.  Thank you and have a good evening.

SPANISH TRANSLATION:
“Hi, we are calling to inform you that ACORN continues working against the embargo of mortgages and for healthcare reform, and now to fight the attacks of the conservative press like Fox News.  In LA the Fox News activists attempted to infiltrate our office but we (removed them w/o incident)”{I believe this is what was said}. “Thank you for your support and as always ‘A united people will never be overcome.’

~~

The Spanish language part of the robocall explicitly mentions Fox News as the originators of the undercover video sting. The English language part simply mentions “an organization.” ACORN can’t even keep their story straight in different languages. ACORN needs a Chief Organizer of its evolving story lines.

The robocall confirms what we have always expected: ACORN’s commitment to an “internal review” is a scam meant to deflect attention from its many problems. Even before ACORN has publicly released the results of its “review,” they have already sued to have their federal funding reinstated. The robocall and federal suit reveal how ACORN acts when it thinks no one is paying attention.

In the light of day, ACORN’s spin machine jockeys to get just enough favorable media coverage to survive any particular story or news cycle. It will distort and lie, confident that Big Media will never follow-up nor hold the organization accountable for its past statement. The Ombudsman of the New York Times even had to admit that one of the paper’s reporters had, on his own initiative, edited one of Bertha Lewis’ statements to cover-up the fact that she had lied. After videos of ACORN Baltimore and DC were released, Lewis put out a statement claiming that James and Hannah were thrown out of ACORN’s New York office, among other locations. After a video of ACORN New York was released however, the Times reporter edited New York out of any further references to Lewis’ statement.

We’ve stopped waiting for the Columbia Review of Journalism or any other “keepers of journalism’s flame” to weigh in on that episode.

ACORN’s only hope to survive is to deflect public attention long enough that the videos, and the deep corruption they exposed, recede in memory. If Big Media continues to willfully ignore ACORN and its corruption, nevermind actually aid and abet their spin, ACORN may very well get away with it.

When it did happen, she shrugged it off, telling an audience at the National Press Club that, “ACORN will still go on with its members and its donors,” according to CNSnews.com.

Now, devoid of the federal teat, ACORN is suing the federal government with the hopes of latching back on to continue sucking our tax dollars.

FOXnews.com reports that the Center for Constitutional Rights is suing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Director of the Office of Management and the Budget Peter Orszag, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan.

Just imagine this scene: an organization is on trial in at least one state for voter registration fraud, accused of voter registration fraud in more than a dozen states, is accused of being a “criminal enterprise” by a Congressional report, and is exposed in a half-dozen states as aiding a supposed pimp and prostitute to obtain a home under false pretenses and use it for admittedly illegal purposes.

And that organization then sues the federal government to restart its flow of our money.  It makes me think of that insulting JG Wentworth commercial when people are leaning out windows and shouting, “It’s my money and I need it now!”

ACORN’s public puffery and subsequent statements don’t match up.  Consider this line from the FoxNews.com story:

ACORN claims it has been badly hurt by the congressional actions, and has had to fire workers and close some of its 1,200 branches around the country.

Lewis said at the Press Club event that federal funds constituted about 10% of ACORN’s income.  If that’s true, then why the panic?  Downsize by 10% and everything’s grand.  Unless, of course, federal tax dollars account for much more than 10% of the overall revenue.

Regardless, in the words of Jeremiah Wright, it appears ACORN’s chickens have come home to roost and now that it’s in an apparent financial bind, it’s lashing out at its biggest friend, the Obama-controlled federal government.  It’s sad, yet heart-warming, all at the same time.

What’s Holder’s hold-up?  One major factor of course is that ACORN serves as a taxpayer-funded Democrat army.  As with unions, it behooves Democrats to ignore corruption amongst the ranks of the powerful forces that elect them. What appears on the surface to be mere political payback for a job well done is in fact much more insidious.  One family’s involvement with ACORN and the Obama administration is of particular interest and elucidates the complicated web of connections and cash behind ACORN and this President.

Meet the Ratners.

Bruce Ratner is a New York real estate developer who has given thousands of dollars to Democrats including President Obama.  His philanthropy also includes having bailed out ACORN with $1.5 million to pay off their embezzlement debt, a decision he stands by despite ACORN’s recent prostitution scandal and a Congressional report detailing the systemic criminal elements in the organization.

As of late, Mr. Ratner has spent thousands lobbying the Obama administration for stimulus funds for an affordable housing / basketball arena boondoggle called Atlantic Yards.  Oh yeah, Ratner owns the Nets who will occupy the new stadium should he have his way.  In addition to paying back Mr. Ratner for his generous support over the years, the stimulus funds would benefit, you guessed it, ACORN! What’s more, the project would be seizing property from the very poor ACORN and liberals claims to represent by invocation of the extremely controversial doctrine of “eminent domain.”

With important supporters like these counting on the Obama administration’s stimulus Ponzi scheme, how could the DOJ initiate a criminal investigation of ACORN? To do a thorough investigation would put not only their moocher grassroots force in peril, but campaign funding as well. Moreover, given Democrats’ ties and vested interest in ACORN, the integrity of any internal investigation would be questionable at best.

Far left politicking and activism runs in the family. Bruce’s brother Michael Ratner is a human rights attorney and the president of the Center for Constitutional Rights.  Michael shares some odd sympathies with Eric Holder. He represented Guantanamo Bay terrorist detainees in the lawsuit where they gained the right to legally contest their detention.  Michael’s other contributions to society include books like The Prosecution of Donald Rumsfeld: A Prosecution by Book and a book on guerilla terrorist Che Guevara. Ratner is a vocal critic of the Justice Department and a proponent of political prosecutions – of Bush officials, not Obama officials of course.

Bruce’s other brother, Ronald Ratner, along with many other family members, is an executive at Forest City Enterprises – the parent firm of Bruce Ratner’s Forest City Ratner Companies lobbying for the aforementioned Atlantic Yards boondoggle. It just so happens that Ronald’s son, Matthew Ratner, worked for Obama for America.  Today, Matthew enjoys a position in the Obama administration. Can you guess where?  The good ole’ U.S. Department of Justice.

In this post-partisan age, only a cynic would imply that this appointment and Bruce Ratner’s business plans might constitute conflicts of interest for DOJ, ACORN, or the White House. Shameless stimulus panhandling and money magic tricks aside, one job this administration can and should “create” is that of a special prosecutor to conduct a fair, unbiased, transparent review of the complex workings of ACORN.

Here’s one: How can one of the most powerful law enforcement officials in America not know his communications director routinely engaged in activities that may have been unlawful?

Or, how is it that only this senior member of the staff knew this was occurring as they currently claim?

Since we know the conversations on the tapes were transcribed, who provided those transcriptions?  Was it an internal staff member?  If it was an outside service, who approved the payments for such service?

Any logical line of questioning (especially from an office full of state attorneys) would seem to lead to two possible conclusions: either procedures in one of the highest profile law offices in the nation are woefully inadequate and ineffective; or, other members of staff knew what was going on and are now concealing their earlier knowledge.

Either conclusion is a disaster for a man who frequently brags of the benefits of four decades of political experience.

The irony here is that while Jerry Brown has chosen not to investigate the matter further, his office is currently pursuing the makers of the recent videos that exposed ACORN’s corrupt practices based on the same legal grounds.  Apparently California’s Attorney General thinks that he and his cohorts can sidestep the very laws that they are using as justification for their investigations of ACORN filmmakers James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles.

Unfortunately, it appears Brown may manage to casually sweep this scandal under the rug while breezing into the Democratic Party’s 2010 gubernatorial nomination.  With the sudden departure San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom from the race last week, Brown currently has no other opposition in the race to win the nomination of the party that likes to lecture everyone else about diversity.

The bottom line is that Brown displayed serious management deficiencies that allowed a senior member of his staff to go rogue under that neglected leadership.  His double standard policy for the investigation of possible crimes under the law conveniently keeps his political pals out of the fray while aggressively going after those who exposed the problems at ACORN.

At least we know who that group will be campaigning for in 2010.

A non-profit organization filed a lawsuit against the federal government Thursday morning, seeking to overturn a law stopping the flow of federal funds to ACORN.

The suit, filed in federal court in New York, claims that bills passed by the House and Senate to defund the group qualify as bills of attainder, legislation that unfairly targets one group. Such bills are unconstitutional.

The suit will seek to restore funding and roll-back the ban, which was passed as part of the legislative branch appropriations bill in September.

ACORN claims that the legislation was of “malicious and punitive intent.” The suit also claims Congress violated the Fifth Amendment by skirting due process before doling out the punishment of the funding cut. OMB Director Peter Orszag and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are listed as co-defendants in the suit.

Efforts to defund ACORN became popular among Democrats and Republicans after conservative activists caught the organization’s employees in several offices advising actors posing as a politician and his prostitute girlfriend on how to evade taxes and set up a brothel.

Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) and others in Congress quickly moved to ensure no federal funds were steered to the group – measures that got support from even the most ardent liberals like Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

The lawsuit, which was brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights, says that ACORN has been subject to “heavily funded and orchestrated political campaigns.”

But this effort represents a complete reversal from ACORN, which emphasized to reporters and the public that the money it received from the federal government was not essential to its existence.

Now the group is taking a bold step to restore its federal funding by accusing Congress of violating the Constitution.

Read the whole article here.

Leaving aside the legal issues raised here, who in God’s name is giving ACORN PR advice? The Apple-Dumpling Gang?