DCBULL BLOG

By ARTHUR L. EKREM of www.dcbull.com

"ACORN IS IN REAL TROUBLE THIS TIME - KIND OF"

Who is ACORN?

ACORN is the nation’s largest grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people with over 400,000 member families organized into more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters in about 75 cities across the country. Since 1970, ACORN has been building community organizations that are committed to social and economic justice, and won victories on thousands of issues of concern to our members, through direct action, negotiation, legislative advocacy and voter participation. ACORN helps those who have historically been locked out become powerful players in our democratic system. (From the ACORN website)
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Okay, based on that little bio from the good people at Acorn, they sound like they should be found between the chapters of Luke and John in the bible. They are not that pure and holy, but rest assured - they have done far more good than evil, and certainly Acorn does not deserve the beating they are getting on Capital Hill. Yes, the boys on Capitol Hill are at it again (and there are a few ladies up these days as well).

It is absolutely crazy with all that's going on our Country right now, that all the pranksters on Capitol Hill can come up with is an orchestrated attack on Acorn. They might as well beat up a blind guy with no arms (NO OFFENSE INTENDED TO BLIND GUYS). If you are anything like me, few citizens have any idea what Acorn is - or what they do. Well if you listen to a few pundits and an orchestra of Republican Senators and Congressman, they see Acorn as all that is wrong with our great land. I'm especially concerned that those in power will take this opportunity to derail an organization that for the most part has done nothing wrong. Over the past several years, a handful of Acorn employees have admitted falsifying names and signatures on registration cards, in order to boost the pay they received. When Acorn officials discovered those cases, they informed the state authorities and turned in the miscreants.
Acorn is the largest organization of poor and working families in America. What Acorn does for family's every day is to help working families avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes. They help struggling families with the Earned Income Tax Credit (whose benefits were expanded by both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton). Yes, these Acorn people are evil doers alright - lets run em out of Dodge.

Over and over again - conservative pundits and politicians claim that Acorn has been found guilty of engaging in deliberate voter fraud and misusing federal funds. In reality, Acorn has registered close to 2 million low-income citizens across the country over the past five years - quite an accomplishment. There has been a very low incidence of fraud of any kind during the past five years. Does anyone really think they would still be in operation if they perpetuated true fraud as claimed? The Justice Department, the FBI, and Sarah Palin would be riding in on white horses demanding arrests if voter fraud was in fact taking place.

Why is the conservative party so upset by the success of Acorn. Perhaps because the minority vote is finally being heard, this is the very vote that most conservative politicians have as a matter of fact, tried to suppress and keep quiet for the last fifty years. This vote can and did sway the last election for better or worse. The low income and minority voter, coupled with the young voter and i-phone voter will decide our future leaders. There are those who suggest that this demographic should not be heard, however the problem with that theory, is that more and more displaced Americans are becoming part of this ever growing base of voters.
Now I'm not a subscriber to the conspiracy theories and do not think Acorn alone has been the sole target of the conservative movement. As another fact, my political roots start in a very conservative background with Republican involvement dating back to the Reagan administration. I love American politics - I love America, and I have spent nearly thirty years with everybody from Jesse Jackson to Senator Bob Dole (or as I call them Yin & Yang). I have become completely blind with regard to political party or affiliation - its all about the idea or the person, not the party, not anymore. Call it finally seeing the light, or perhaps always knowing the light was there, but I felt as a young man that I had to be forced into one party or the other, those days are over for American politics - thank GOD.

Lets face it - it's anyones race in the future of politics. If the last election taught us anything at all - it's simply this, the "status quo" does not work anymore. Obama, for better or worse - was the first step in the direction of an independent party - a third-party - or better yet, no parties at all. Simply put, unique candidates with an independent idea and agenda will dominate the future of the political scene. Those who argue that this is a loss to our structured political system are dead wrong. Imagine our country with the Congress and Senate not divided into two parties, imagine all 100 United States Senators are able and willing to vote their conscience with regard to the needs of their respective States - as opposed to along party lines every single time - of course the majority will still win in the end, but think of the free flow of solutions and ideas.

This brings me back to Acorn, I initially was on the bandwagon with everybody else in the Republican party who said that Acorn had to be stopped, that they were the evil villain. Well, it is time we all wake up and smell the Starbucks, as Acorn is guilty of none of the things they were accused of (Not Yet At Least). As with all large groups in a position of prominence, Acorn has a few bad apples in the organization. These few are not the face of Acorn anymore than Joe Wilson is the face and voice of the House Republican members when he said to President Obama "You Lie" in a national address.

Since the conservative movement and the Republican party are running like dear into the headlights, it is hard to imagine why Acorn is being used as a distractive tool. The Republicans have no idea how the stop the rising tide of hostility against their party. Once a proud member and adviser to the Republican National party, I find myself bewildered by the behavior of the Republican party. I find that the two parties agree with each other with such common solidarity, that there's hardly division between the two - so it's hard to understand why an organization like Acorn is being singled out and attacked. This in the midst of an automobile industry and banking collapse, an insurance crisis, starving children, not to mention our war efforts in the middle east. So to Hell with those issues says the leadership we elected. Since we do not know how to fix anything of substance says the current leadership, lets hang Acorn by their nuts so we can look busy. Listen to this recent quote from a blow hard in Congress "ACORN has violated serious federal laws, and today the House voted to ensure that taxpayer dollars would no longer be used to fund this corrupt organization," this was said by second-ranked House Republican Eric Cantor of Virginia. Sorry ladies and gentlemen of the House and Senate, we are on to you - leave Acorn alone and go to work fixing what you broke.

The next generation of i-phone voters will be savvy enough to cast their vote using robot technology. This will be the free thinking voter of tomorrow, and they will care not for what small infraction Acorn has or has not committed, but they will vote your ass out of office in a heartbeat for being a deadbeat.

So leave Acorn alone and fix something that matters and get down to America's business.

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MAIN OBSERVATION BY www.dcbull.com

ACORN GETS FORMALLY SCREWED AS TO SUPPOSED ETHICS VIOLATIONS

MAYBE WE CAN GIVE $750 BILLION FOR BEING BAD LIKE THE BANKING AND INVESTMENT INDUSTRY

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House voted Thursday to deny all federal funds for ACORN in a GOP-led strike against the scandal-tainted community organizing group that comes just three days after the Senate took similar action. "ACORN has violated serious federal laws, and today the House voted to ensure that taxpayer dollars would no longer be used to fund this corrupt organization," said second-ranked House Republican Eric Cantor of Virginia.

The vote, on a provision attached to a student aid bill, was 345-75, with Democrats supplying all the "no" votes.

On Monday the Senate voted 83-7 to deny housing and community grant funding to ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
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DOUCHEBAG IS DEFINED AS?

Noun

Singular
douchebag

douchebag (plural douchebags)

(US, slang) A jerk; a mean or rude person.That douchebag ruined my shrimp cocktail.Why doesn't that guy get a job? He's a regular douchebag.
(US, slang) An idiot, a dim-witted person.
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