Mary Cedeno sent this letter to the editor to the Lockport US&J who could not print it due to limitations during the political season. So, here it is. I am always willing to post letters-to-the-editor here if you want to share your opinion....
No Mighty Oak
By Mary Cedeno, Royalton NY
I was a little surprised the other day to hear someone ask me what “ACORN” (Association of Community Organization for Reform Now) is. Then, as I was watching the local evening news, it all became clear. The three local, “main-stream” stations did not cover the investigations of ACORN voter fraud that are currently being investigated in 13 States, including the “swing states”.
ACORN, whose representatives are pounding the pavement for voter registrations, has been accused of harassing people into completing numerous registrations by following them to their homes and “buying” their cooperation. Some people have completed as many as 73 registrations. This is especially disturbing because in Ohio this year they are allowing people to Register and VOTE on the same day. The problem is, once the votes are opened (in less than a week) and separated from their envelope, the vote becomes anonymous and there is no way to determine the validity of the voter registration and thus, the vote.
ACORN has created a reputation for themselves of conducting fraudulent voter registration activities over the years, in many states. There were 12 convictions of ACORN employees during the 2004 elections in Missouri alone. On October 8th federal investigators raided ACORN offices in Nevada and secured the voter registrations their employees obtained. Additional investigations are continuing in Ohio.
Why should you care? Well, because every FRAUDULENT vote that is counted NEGATES a valid vote – maybe YOUR vote. Everyone is in favor of one person one vote. No patriotic American would disagree. However cheating is never an acceptable behavior and when it impacts such an important event as the Presidential elections, it is a serious threat to our democratic system.
Apparently, ACORN pays people to get registrations, based on the number of registrations they bring in. Their system encourages fraud. At best, this is a systemic problem with the procedures of the organization. At worst, it is a purposeful attempt to steal an election.
Voters should be interested to know that Senator Obama donated over $800,000 to this supposed “non-partisan” organization. However the ACORN organization has endorsed Obama. I’m still unclear how that is NON partisan.
To make matters worse, Acorn receives tax-payer money in the form of grants….many from the HUD organization. So, make no mistake, YOUR money is also being used to help fund this apparently fraudulent organization.
And voter fraud is only the tip of the iceberg. ACORN is one of the key community organizations that forced banks to give mortgage loans to people who could not afford them by using the accusation of discrimination to get the loan requirement standards lowered. This organization was a key player in the fiasco that nearly brought our countries’ financial structure to it’s knees. A good read on the mortgage loans fiasco can be found on the New York Post web page, search out the article titled “The Real Scandal – How Feds Invited the Mortgage Mess” by Stan Leibowitz -2/5/08.
Voters should be asking-will this organization and the people who head it be held accountable? Will Senators Gregory Meeks, Maxine Waters, and Barney Frank who fought to prevent the industry from being regulated be held accountable? What about Chuck Schumer? He was right up front insisting that there is too much regulation on Wall Street…will he be held accountable??
We need to hold these people and their organizations accountable for their actions. They put politics ahead of doing the right thing. They did NOT put Country First!!
No Mighty Oak
By Mary Cedeno, Royalton NY
I was a little surprised the other day to hear someone ask me what “ACORN” (Association of Community Organization for Reform Now) is. Then, as I was watching the local evening news, it all became clear. The three local, “main-stream” stations did not cover the investigations of ACORN voter fraud that are currently being investigated in 13 States, including the “swing states”.
ACORN, whose representatives are pounding the pavement for voter registrations, has been accused of harassing people into completing numerous registrations by following them to their homes and “buying” their cooperation. Some people have completed as many as 73 registrations. This is especially disturbing because in Ohio this year they are allowing people to Register and VOTE on the same day. The problem is, once the votes are opened (in less than a week) and separated from their envelope, the vote becomes anonymous and there is no way to determine the validity of the voter registration and thus, the vote.
ACORN has created a reputation for themselves of conducting fraudulent voter registration activities over the years, in many states. There were 12 convictions of ACORN employees during the 2004 elections in Missouri alone. On October 8th federal investigators raided ACORN offices in Nevada and secured the voter registrations their employees obtained. Additional investigations are continuing in Ohio.
Why should you care? Well, because every FRAUDULENT vote that is counted NEGATES a valid vote – maybe YOUR vote. Everyone is in favor of one person one vote. No patriotic American would disagree. However cheating is never an acceptable behavior and when it impacts such an important event as the Presidential elections, it is a serious threat to our democratic system.
Apparently, ACORN pays people to get registrations, based on the number of registrations they bring in. Their system encourages fraud. At best, this is a systemic problem with the procedures of the organization. At worst, it is a purposeful attempt to steal an election.
Voters should be interested to know that Senator Obama donated over $800,000 to this supposed “non-partisan” organization. However the ACORN organization has endorsed Obama. I’m still unclear how that is NON partisan.
To make matters worse, Acorn receives tax-payer money in the form of grants….many from the HUD organization. So, make no mistake, YOUR money is also being used to help fund this apparently fraudulent organization.
And voter fraud is only the tip of the iceberg. ACORN is one of the key community organizations that forced banks to give mortgage loans to people who could not afford them by using the accusation of discrimination to get the loan requirement standards lowered. This organization was a key player in the fiasco that nearly brought our countries’ financial structure to it’s knees. A good read on the mortgage loans fiasco can be found on the New York Post web page, search out the article titled “The Real Scandal – How Feds Invited the Mortgage Mess” by Stan Leibowitz -2/5/08.
Voters should be asking-will this organization and the people who head it be held accountable? Will Senators Gregory Meeks, Maxine Waters, and Barney Frank who fought to prevent the industry from being regulated be held accountable? What about Chuck Schumer? He was right up front insisting that there is too much regulation on Wall Street…will he be held accountable??
We need to hold these people and their organizations accountable for their actions. They put politics ahead of doing the right thing. They did NOT put Country First!!
