E!! » Project Vote

Cali GOP Files Federal Complaint Against Obama

E!! — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:09:26 +0000

Just received a press release from the California Republican Party (CRP) that they have filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission against Barack Obama, Obama for America, Obama Victory Fund, and others citing a pattern of misconduct.

Specific complaints include the fact that the Obama campaign provided Project Vote a copy of its donor list while hiding the fact that they did so, that Obama flew to Hawaii to visit his grandmother on $100,000 worth of campaign funds (instead of paying for it personally), and that Obama has been promised (and has accepted) “pro bono” legal representation by a law firm that has told its attorneys it will compensate and reward them for helping Obama. All of these things are either in violation of federal election law or formal FEC opinion.

We’ll see what the FEC does, if anything.

ACORN Attorney Admits Possible Violations of Federal Law

E!! — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:43:04 +0000

Yesterday the New York Times ran an interesting story on page A17. Excerpts and sum-up (it’s a pretty long piece):

Apparently an internal report by an ACORN lawyer admits the possibility that there have been violations of federal law in re: to the relationships among ACORN’s partners and affiliates.

The June 18 report, written by attorney Elizabeth Kingsley, lists concerns about the improper use of charitable dollars for political purposes; questionable money transfers among the affiliates; and potential conflicts created by employees working for multiple affiliates. In addition to these problems and all the inquiries into its voter registration efforts, ACORN also faces demands for back taxes by the Internal Revenue Service and various state tax authorities.

Ms. Kingsley’s concerns about the way ACORN partners work together are sure to fire up critics already upset over ACORN’s voter registration efforts which, as it has been pointed out, are largely underwritten by an affiliated charity called ”Project Vote.” The group hires ACORN to do voter registration work, and the two groups claim to have registered 1.3 million voters this year.

The problem is that as a federally tax-exempt charity, Project Vote is subject to prohibitions on partisan political activity…but ACORN, a nonprofit membership corporation under Louisiana law, is not bound by the same restrictions. Ms. Kingsley says that the close ties between Project Vote and ACORN make it difficult to document and show that Project Vote’s money has been used in a strictly nonpartisan manner.

Ms. Kingsley’s report also raised concerns about which organization actually controlled all the strategic decisions. She said that the very same people were deciding which regions to focus on for both ACORN and Project Vote. “As a result, we may not be able to prove that 501(c)3 resources are not being directed to specific regions based on impermissible partisan considerations,” Ms. Kingsley said.

Kingsley also took issue with the governance of ACORN affiliates including Project Vote. “Board meetings are not held, or if they are, minutes are not kept, or if minutes are kept, they never make it into the files,” she wrote. Project Vote has had only one independent director and he worked for a short two year stint. Since then the board has consisted of ACORN staff members and two members who pay monthly dues.

But two people listed as board members for 7 and 8 years, respectively, say they were not aware they were on the Project Vote board. One of them, George Hampton, said he had never even heard of Project Vote. And even though Project Vote recently assembled a new board, five of the six new members have longstanding ties to ACORN.

Obama, Ayers, ACORN et al: Connecting the Dots

E!! — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:33:08 +0000

Here is a graphical depiction of the connection(s) – and dollar amounts that passed – between:

George Soros, MoveOn.org, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) project, the Woods Fund, Bill Ayers, ACORN (its housing division as well as voter registration group), Project Vote, Barack Obama, Fannie and Freddie, Johnson, Raines, and various senators and congressmen including Chris Dodd, Chuck Schumer, and others.

All of this information is on record and verifiable.

Even if you look at each connection in the most positive light possible, the thing as a whole is an eye opener. If you’ve never understood or believed in the the possibility of a Vast Left Wing Conspiracy – or, if you prefer a nicer couching of things: the possibility that activists on the Left have tremendous Power and wield it in ways that are often overlooked – now may be the time to reconsider.

If you want to Do Something, pass this on!