Barack Obama — the former attorney for the corrupt Association of Community Organization and Reform Now (ACORN) — has now nominated for Census Bureau czar a man who (perhaps not surprisingly) refuses to rule out paying ACORN lieutenants tens of millions of tax dollars to, of all things, count the number of Americans who should receive federally funded hand-outs and be allowed to vote.
Now, remember, this is the very same ACORN group that is currently under investigation for committing electoral fraud in 12 states during the most recent election cycle alone, including Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. And it’s the same group whose malfeasance dates back at least to 1998, when its Project Vote contractor was arrested in Arkansas for falsifying 400 voter registration cards.
In King County, Washington, in 2008, elections officials were forced to remove 1,762 voter registrations submitted by ACORN. In Delaware County, Pennsylvania, nearly 1,200 fraudulent voter registrations were submitted by ACORN. In Cleveland, Ohio, ACORN registered one voter 77 times. And in Chicago, 10,000 false registrations were submitted.
No wonder Chicago is Barack Obama’s kind of town. Clearly, his kind of people tally the votes there. Which may explain why in 2008, his presidential campaign paid ACORN operatives a whopping $800,000 to register voters. And why Investor’s Business Journal called Mr. Obama “ACORN’s Senator.”
In view of all this, it is little wonder that on earlier this year, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) asked Obama Census Czar nominee Robert Groves and the White House for a firm commitment that he would not hire ACORN operatives to count the U.S. populace by asking them to confirm it in writing. And it is even less wonder that Mr. Vitter has now put a hold on the Groves’ nomination, since Mr. Groves and the White House have thus far refused to extend the Senator even the courtesy of a response, let alone a commitment to protect the sanctity of the census from the voraciously corrupt ACORN lieutenants.
What is at stake in this situation is much more than a mere uneven headcount; it is the corruption of the voting process itself. If ACORN is allowed to skew its census count the way it has repeatedly skewed its voter registrations, key decisions as to where and how federal funds are distributed will be at stake. And the redrawing of congressional boundaries will be at the mercy of ACORN operatives’ decisions as to whom they wish to count and whom they don’t.
If ACORN lieutenants decide to lose a few hundred thousand citizens in districts where Republicans are strong – such as the South and West — those voters could be deprived of congressional representation. And if they decide to add on a few hundred thousand in areas where Democrats dominate – such as major urban areas – those cities could find themselves with additional votes in the halls of Congress.
In short, to put it bluntly: if ACORN is allowed to corrupt the census as it has, time and again, corrupted voter registration, the fragile fabric of democracy could be forever destroyed.
That’s what is at stake. And that’s why Americans from all walks of life, from either party, and from every area of the country must support the Vitter hold on Robert Groves.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has threatened to invoke a cloture vote Monday morning to break Mr. Vitter’s hold on Mr. Groves. It’s time to tell the members of the Senate in no uncertain terms: “If Robert Groves and the White House won’t commit to keeping ACORN away from the census count, we want him kept away from the Census Bureau.” The Senate switchboard number is 202-225-3121.
