Ex-Moderate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) Embraces Communist Van Jones

Facing what could become a bruising primary battle, appointed U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is embracing one of President Obama’s best known communist appointees, former green jobs czar Van Jones.

The Hill reports Gillibrand will share the stage with Jones at a panel discussion sponsored by the Advocacy Project at the Harvard Club in New York. Jones, a self-described “communist,” was pushed out of the Obama administration five months ago following the embarrassing revelation that he was a 9/11 “truther” who had signed a petition accusing the U.S. government of orchestrating the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

For a time, Jones had been politically radioactive to Democrats but Gillibrand’s decision to work alongside him appears to bring Jones’s political exile to an end.

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Tags: ACORN, Advocacy Project, Barack Obama, Democracy Alliance, Erica Payne
Posted Feb 7th 2010 at 10:24 am in ACORN, Obama, Politics | 71122106 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mvadum/2010/02/07/ex-moderate-sen-kirsten-gillibrand-d-n-y-embraces-communist-van-jones/Ex-Moderate+Sen.+Kirsten+Gillibrand+%28D-N.Y.%29+Embraces+Communist+Van+Jones2010-02-07+18%3A24%3A22Matthew+Vadum

ACORN’s Federal Lobbying Shenanigans

ACORN is no stranger to shady lobbying practices.

Months before GOP  investigators on the House Oversight and Government Committee revealed that ACORN appears to be lobbying illegally in Delaware, a former ACORN employee alleged ACORN violated federal lobbying laws.

The ex-ACORN employee, Ron Sykes, said that Citizens Consulting Inc. (CCI), the shadowy financial nerve center of the ACORN network, filed false lobbying disclosure reports with Congress.

This is important because, as former ACORN national board member Charles Turner said earlier this year on “The Glenn Beck Program,” CCI “is where the shell game begins.”

“ACORN has over 200 different entities that the money gets moved around to – for this purpose to that purpose, this organization to that organization,” said Turner. “We believe the way the money has been moved around, they’ve been laundering money.”

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Tags: ACORN, ACORN 8, Charles Turner, Citizens Consulting Inc., Darrell Issa
Posted Dec 14th 2009 at 6:17 am in ACORN, Congress, News, Obama, Politics | 4557821 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mvadum/2009/12/14/acorns-federal-lobbying-shenanigans/ACORN%27s+Federal+Lobbying+Shenanigans2009-12-14+14%3A17%3A29Matthew+Vadum

Eric Holder Won’t Investigate His Radical Friends at ACORN

Attorney General Eric Holder has made it abundantly clear he has absolutely no interest in investigating his radical friends at ACORN.

Holder’s Justice Department released a legal opinion last week that allows the Obama administration to ignore the will of Congress which has voted overwhelmingly to suspend federal funding of ACORN until at least Dec. 18. He’s also ignored the 88-page report on ACORN’s systemic corruption and flagrant racketeering activities that was issued this summer by Republican investigators on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Apparently, public outrage at the continuing antics of the corrupt radical advocacy group that used to employ President Obama and White House political director Patrick Gaspard counts for nothing.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (center) with ACORN ally Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (left), and former California Gov. Gray Davis (right).

But Americans really shouldn’t be surprised that Attorney General Holder is bending over backwards to help his radical friends at ACORN.

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Tags: ACORN, American Constitution Society, Barack Obama, Barbra Streisand Foundation, Bill Mason
Posted Nov 30th 2009 at 7:01 am in ACORN, Featured Story, Justice/Legal | 3792298 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mvadum/2009/11/30/eric-holder-wont-investigate-his-radical-friends-at-acorn/Eric+Holder+Won%E2%80%99t+Investigate+His+Radical+Friends+at+ACORN+2009-11-30+14%3A01%3A13Matthew+Vadum

ACORN and SEIU: Anatomy of a Shakedown

Across America community organizations operate in impoverished, disadvantaged, low-income or minority communities. No matter the phrase used to describe the special interest, a group exists to represent it. Often these organizations initially have good intentions and seek to give back and serve the community in which they operate. When government money, power and influence become part of the equation however, lofty principles tend to fall by the wayside. Other organizations are created to cause chaos and disrupt the system.

The Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) was perceived by many as a well-intended organization, but it appears that the association that Wade Rathke founded was increasingly driven to cause chaos and disrupt the system whenever it could.

BEFORE the Dale Rathke embezzlement finally became last year, John Fund, in “Grapes of Rathke: ACORN, a liberal activist group, comes under scrutiny. About time,” reported: (more…)

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Tags: ACORN, Booz Allen, Carlyle Group, Community Reinvestment Act, Dale Rathke
Posted Sep 27th 2009 at 5:30 am in ACORN, Big Labor, Featured Story, Obama, Politics | 930271 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/amoncrief/2009/09/27/acorn-and-seiu-anatomy-of-a-shakedown/ACORN+and+SEIU%3A+Anatomy+of+a+Shakedown2009-09-27+12%3A30%3A58Anita+MonCrief

ACORN’s Lobbying Shenanigans

Citizens Consulting Inc. (CCI), the shadowy financial nerve center of the embattled radical activist group ACORN, has filed false lobbying disclosure reports with Congress, according to Ron Sykes, a former ACORN employee.

This revelation is important because, as former ACORN national board member Charles Turner said earlier this year on “The Glenn Beck Program,” CCI “is where the shell game begins.”

“ACORN has over 200 different entities that the money gets moved around to – for this purpose to that purpose, this organization to that organization,” said Turner. “We believe the way the money has been moved around, they’ve been laundering money.”

ACORN founder Wade Rathke (left) and ACORN enabler Drummond Pike (right) of Tides Foundation in an undated photo taken in Peru. On the wall is a large poster of Communist icons Che Guevara and Fidel Castro.

When former ACORN activist Ron Sykes was informed by this reporter that ACORN affiliate CCI registered him as a lobbyist, he was angry. “It’s like identity theft,” said Sykes in an interview. “I have no idea why they registered me. I didn’t register myself and was not aware that they were doing it.”

Whether this reflects ACORN’s institutional carelessness or a calculated effort to deceive, the discovery throws some light on how ACORN treats its employees, moves money around the ACORN network, and deals with the federal government. Federal lawmakers have known for years about ACORN’s unorthodox and possibly illegal practices, including its use of government resources to promote legislation and its extensive commingling of funds within its network of affiliates.

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Tags: ACORN, Beth Butler, CCI, Charles Turner, Citizens Consulting Inc.
Posted Sep 23rd 2009 at 1:15 pm in ACORN | 717852 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mvadum/2009/09/23/acorns-lobbying-shenanigans/ACORN%27s+Lobbying+Shenanigans2009-09-23+20%3A15%3A18Matthew+Vadum