ACORNwatch.org http://acornwatch.org Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:02:06 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://acornwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1796&Itemid=96 The progressive movement is often difficult to pin down because allied groups use multiple names and organizations to spread confusion and give the appearance of both overwhelming numbers and independent expenditure.  We should not be fooled by this host of political malcontents attempting to co-opt state and local politics in the name of a national agenda. Examining the tactics of these groups gives us the key to understanding the purpose of organizations like the Secretary of State Project, ACORN, and Project Vote.  Our states are under concerted judicial assault from progressive lawyers, and they are many.Let us first address the networks of influence.  Project Vote is the legal arm of ACORN, and in the cases we’ll study, conducted all of the informational build-up to bring suits against potential swing states.  It works like this: Project Vote files state versions of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, gathers relevant data, conducts studies, and contacts various state officials to coordinate these activities.  Once Project Vote gathers the minimal amount of information needed,  ACORN then files a complaint in federal district court.  A rotating pinwheel of other progressive groups join the suit and, often, The Brennan Center for Justice provides additional help through... Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:22:57 +0100 http://acornwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1795&Itemid=97 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.Gillibrand, who had a reputation as a moderate Democrat before entering the U.S. Senate, has been steadily tacking to the left since being appointed to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton so it’s no surprise that she is cozying up to her party’s radical left-wing.Gillibrand was one of only seven senators who voted against de-funding the radical leftist group ACORN known for its decades of involvement in election fraud. At the time she defended her vote, telling the New York Post through... Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:11:48 +0100 http://acornwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1794&Itemid=97 In a lawsuit that challenged computerized voting machines that do not produce a paper record, the Superior Court this week ordered additional evaluation of the equipment.   Sequoia Voting Systems, which manufactures the machines, hailed the ruling as a victory, while plaintiffs say it did not go far enough.   Judge Linda Feinberg held that New Jersey’s 11,000 voting machines have to be re-evaluated by a qualified panel of experts within 120 days to determine whether they comply with NJ law requiring that they be accurate and reliable.   Princeton Computer Science Department Chair Professor Andrew Appel served as the plaintiffs’ expert witness. He evaluated the machines, created a fraudulent chip that stole votes and installed that chip in less than 10 seconds. The voting machines could not detect the fraudulent chip.   Unlike the panel that currently evaluates voting machines, the new panel must have requisite knowledge of computers and computer security.   ”Sequoia is exceedingly pleased with the court’s decision that affirms what Sequoia and our customers throughout New Jersey and the United States have long known and experienced - that our voting equipment is indeed safe, accurate and reliable,” said Jack A. Blaine, chief executive officer of Sequoia Voting Systems, in a... Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:51:55 +0100 http://acornwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1793&Itemid=97 Thanks to the Obama administration and an out-of-control liberal judge, ACORN and other leftist activist groups –including the embattled radical group ACORN– could be eligible for up to $3.99 billion in federal funding included in the $3.83 trillion fiscal 2011 budget blueprint President Obama released Monday.The $3.99 billion comes from a congressional slush fund known as the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which is part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) $48.5 billion fiscal 2011 budget. CDBG grants, which are awarded to states and localities, flow indirectly to ACORN and similar groups that compete at the state and local level for grants.But how is it that ACORN might be eligible to take in more federal funding when Congress passed a ban on funding the group and its affiliates just last year? Because in December federal Judge Nina Gershon (no apparent relation to actress Gina Gershon) restored federal funding of ACORN by issuing a temporary injunction against the congressional funding ban. The Bill Clinton appointee found that depriving ACORN of taxpayer dollars was an unconstitutional “bill of attainder” that singled out ACORN for punishment without trial. The judge’s ruling could be made permanent when the case eventually... Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:44:42 +0100 http://acornwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1792&Itemid=97 An order this week from a New Jersey judge has electronic voting critics and e-voting machine maker Sequoia Voting Systems both claiming some level of victory in a six-year-old lawsuit seeking to decommission the machines.Mercer County Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg issued an opinion Monday finding Sequoia's paperless, direct record electronic (DRE) voting machines to be safe and reliable absent any "premeditated criminal activity." But Feinberg also ordered that the state's 11,000 voting machines be re-evaluated by a panel of computer experts, with the panel determining whether the state should continue using them.Sequoia praised the judge's ruling. The decision "affirms what Sequoia and our customers throughout New Jersey and the United States have long known and experienced -- that our voting equipment is indeed safe, accurate and reliable," Jack Blaine, the company's CEO, said in a statement.To continue reading this article: http://www.pcworld.com/article/188474/nj_judge_issues_mixed_order_on_use_of_evoting_machines.html (http://www.pcworld.com/article/188474/nj_judge_issues_mixed_order_on_use_of_evoting_machines.html) Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:04:10 +0100 http://acornwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1791&Itemid=96 CHICAGO (CBS) ― The wild GOP race for governor remained too close to call early Wednesday, as top contenders Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard were separated by only about 500 votes.With 99 percent of precincts reporting around 6 a.m., Brady, riding the strengh of the downstate vote, held a razor-thin edge of 0.2 percent over Dillard. Businessman Andy McKenna trailed by about 7,500 votes.Dillard said late Tuesday that he was hopeful that some of the remaining votes were coming from the Chicago suburbs, where he runs stronger than the downstater Brady.To continue reading this story: http://www.wbbm780.com/GOP-race-for-Governor-a-squeaker/6272005 (http://www.wbbm780.com/GOP-race-for-Governor-a-squeaker/6272005) Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:02:20 +0100 http://acornwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1790&Itemid=72 The state Senate today deferred giving third and final reading to a controversial voter identification bill.In an unusual move, some senators said they wanted to amend the bill, agreed to last week.The bill would phase-in a requirement that S.C. voters present a state-issued identification card with a photo when voting, beginning in 2012.Due to sometimes bitter debate over the legislation, senators agreed Thursday to reserve their rights to amend the bill on third reading. Amendments usually are restricted to a proposal’s second reading. Still, when amendments were offered today, it raised concerns across the Senate that a fragile agreement could unravel. To continue reading this article: http://thestatecom.typepad.com/ygatoday/2010/02/voter-id-bill-on-hold-at-least-one-more-day.html (http://thestatecom.typepad.com/ygatoday/2010/02/voter-id-bill-on-hold-at-least-one-more-day.html) Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:59:25 +0100 http://acornwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1789&Itemid=62 The maker of New Jersey's voting machines is hailing a Superior Court ruling on the security of the devices as a victory, while the lawyer who sued to have the machines discarded said she still expects state experts to find they have serious flaws.Sequoia Voting Systems "is exceedingly pleased with the court's decision that affirms what Sequoia and our customers throughout New Jersey and the United States have long known and experienced -- that our voting equipment is indeed safe, accurate and reliable," CEO Jack A. Blaine said in a press release.In her ruling Monday, Mercer County Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg acknowledged that New Jersey has used Sequoia systems for over 15 years without finding any evidence that an election has been compromised through manipulation of the machines, the firm said.To continue reading this article: http://www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-19/1265179538216910.xml&coll=5 (http://www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-19/1265179538216910.xml&coll=5) Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:52:40 +0100 http://acornwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1788&Itemid=97 From a tiny acorn, a mighty oak can grow. With ACORN’s help, Barack Obama “grew” from an ACORN community organizer and instructor, to an ACORN lawyer and ACORN benefactor as a board member of donor organizations, to an ACORN-backed Illinois state senator, to ACORN’s favorite United States Senator, to ACORN’s candidate for President of the United States in 2008. This article shows how ACORN and its allies helped organize America to make Obama President in this, the computer age.Barack Obama’s meteoric rise from rookie Senator to President had man marveling at the efficiency and breadth of his campaign. Obama’s ability to fund raise had seasoned experts playing catch up while his voter registration money machine operated in the background. In 2008, the New York Times explored a seemingly innocent tactic the Democrats were utilizing to elect Obama. The article stated several times that the Republicans had honed this technique and Democrats were just “borrowing the play.”To continue reading this article: http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2010/02/02/an-inside-look-at-organzing-for-america-part-ii-acorn-for-america/ (http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2010/02/02/an-inside-look-at-organzing-for-america-part-ii-acorn-for-america/) Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:42:35 +0100 http://acornwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1787&Itemid=97 In every major election since 2000 Secretaries of State have emerged as key, often decisive, and partisan figures in the outcomes of those ballot battles.In 2000 it was Katherine Harris, the secretary of state of Florida, who made critical decisions that helped swing the state Republican.In 2004 it was Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio's Secretary of State, who earned democratic wrath for ensuring a close Republican win.To continue reading this article: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/29/states-secretaries-state-tipping-balance-power/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+foxnews%252Fpolitics+%2528Text+-+Politics%2529 (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/29/states-secretaries-state-tipping-balance-power/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+foxnews%252Fpolitics+%2528Text+-+Politics%2529) Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:47:14 +0100